By NORIYASU NUKUI/ Staff Writer
April 2, 2021 at 17:48 JST
An envelope that contains a coupon for COVID-19 vaccine issued by Sumida Ward office on April 2 (Noriyasu Nukui)
Sumida on April 2 became the first of Tokyo’s 23 wards to start mailing coupons for COVID-19 vaccines to its residents under the central government’s inoculation program that is running behind schedule.
The ward office plans to send the first batch of coupons to around 60,000 residents who are 65 or older.
From early morning, busy postal workers were seen sorting individually addressed envelopes, each marked “coupon for novel coronavirus vaccines inside.”
The first deliveries were made before noon.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has described the vaccine as a “game-changer” in the COVID-19 pandemic. But the process to vaccinate those eligible, starting with health care workers, appears to be taking longer than what the central government has promised.
In Sumida Ward, about 245,000 residents are eligible to receive the vaccine, which requires two shots.
Those 65 or older will start receiving their first doses from May 10, according to ward officials.
Officials expect that about 70 percent of eligible residents will receive their first shots by Sept. 5.
Sumida Ward officials have planned to use the Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena as a vaccination site.
They hope residents will turn out in increasing numbers for the shots on the chance of getting inoculated together with famous sumo stablemasters.
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