Photo/Illutration An elderly person expresses gratitude after receiving a shot of a COVID-19 vaccine in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, on April 12. (Yoshiaki Arai)

Municipalities across Japan have revised their policies after coming under fire for wasting a most-precious commodity: COVID-19 vaccine doses.

The central government is depending on overseas vaccines to inoculate the population against the novel coronavirus, but a constant concern is that supplies will run short.

The high demand for the shots was evident in Hachioji, western Tokyo, one of the first municipalities to start inoculating elderly residents on April 12.

Requests flooded the city’s website and call center immediately after Hachioji started accepting reservations for the vaccinations.

On the first day of the vaccine program, 250 people who made reservations were supposed to receive their shots at a special vaccination site, but two of them failed to show up.

The Pfizer vaccines must be kept at ultracold temperatures and used within six hours after they are opened and diluted. Leftover doses cannot be injected at a later date.

The Hachioji city government had to throw away the doses that were prepared for the two no-shows.

Although only two doses were lost, residents complained bitterly to the city government.

“I can’t understand why it threw away vaccine doses since even a single shot must not be wasted,” said one resident.

“What a waste,” said another.

An official in charge of the city’s vaccination program expressed regret over the incident, saying the city government should have first considered inoculating health care workers using canceled doses.

The official said the city plans to use leftover doses to vaccinate doctors, pharmacists and public health center officials.

The city governments of Kyoto and Otsu were also forced to discard vaccine doses.

When residents and employees of two facilities for elderly people were inoculated in Kyoto, some workers could not receive their scheduled shots because of sudden changes in their shifts.

The city government also failed to find enough recipients for the vaccine doses it had prepared for the program.

“We want to give top priority to not wasting precious vaccine doses while inoculating people in order of priority and ensuring fair distribution,” Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa said on April 16.

Kyoto city decided to ask facilities for elderly people planning to vaccinate residents and staff members to find substitute recipients in advance in case of cancellations.

“We’ll ask the facilities to respond flexibly to (cancellations) by allowing those scheduled to receive doses the following day to be vaccinated a day earlier or inoculating staff at offices attached to the facilities,” said a city official.

Otsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture, set a policy of using leftover doses to vaccinate health care workers at a venue for its inoculation program to prevent waste. Four people canceled their vaccinations between April 13 and 15, but the city managed to find the same number of health care workers who could receive the shots, according to an official.

“It’s difficult to secure vaccine doses as local governments are eager to get them,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters on April 16. “I want municipalities to use (leftover) doses at their own discretion to avoid wasting them.”

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