Up to 20,000 front-line medical staffers at state-run hospitals are set to be the first to receive the vaccines, followed by 3.7 million other health care workers.
Tetsushi Sakamoto, the newly appointed state minister to deal with loneliness, responds to Diet questions in January. (Kotaro Ebara)
A rise in suicides stemming in large part from feelings of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to follow the example of Britain and establish a Cabinet portfolio to battle loneliness.
On Feb. 12, Suga named Tetsushi Sakamoto as state minister in charge of coordinating measures to help those feeling isolated as a result of the novel coronavirus crisis.
Sakamoto is already the Cabinet minister in charge of regional revitalization.
When she led Britain in 2018, Theresa May established the world’s first minister to combat loneliness, which she described as the most serious public health issue confronting British society.