By KAYOKO GEJI/ Staff Writer
May 28, 2021 at 17:25 JST
An elderly person receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot in Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, on April 12. (Jun Kaneko)
Komeito, the junior ruling coalition partner, found that 248 municipalities, nearly double the number in a government survey, doubt they can achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s goal of vaccinating all seniors by July 31.
Komeito surveyed 1,741 cities, wards, towns and villages through its prefectural chapters nationwide and released the results on May 26.
It was conducted largely because a government survey on the COVID-19 inoculation program released on May 21 was vague and potentially misleading.
According to that survey, 125 municipalities said it would be difficult to vaccinate all elderly residents by Suga’s targeted date. The government survey did not disclose which municipalities said they were unlikely to achieve the goal.
A Komeito official said the party wanted to investigate why those municipalities were falling behind schedule and to help them improve the situation.
The party’s survey found that far more municipalities were having difficulties meeting the target.
The survey also asked the municipalities for reasons behind their struggles, allowing them to choose multiple answers. Of them, 187, or 75 percent, cited a difficulty in securing medical personnel.
A source in the internal affairs ministry, which conducted the government survey, acknowledged that it lacked accuracy.
“It’s like the municipalities made a resolution to do their utmost to achieve the target,” the source said.
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