By TATSURO SUGIURA/ Staff Writer
June 2, 2021 at 19:18 JST
Prince Hitachi leaves the Imperial Household Hospital in the Imperial Palace on June 1 after he was vaccinated against COVID-19. (Hiroyuki Yamamoto)
Six imperial family members aged 65 or older, including Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, received COVID-19 vaccinations on June 1.
Akihito, 87, and Michiko, 86, got their jabs at their residence, the Sento Imperial Palace in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.
Prince Hitachi and his wife, Princess Hanako, as well as Princess Nobuko, the widow of Prince Tomohito, and Princess Hisako, the widow of Prince Takamado, received inoculations at the Imperial Household Hospital in the Imperial Palace, sources said.
They were the first royal family members to have been vaccinated.
Seven royal family members were eligible for the prioritized vaccination for people aged 65 or older.
Only Princess Yuriko, 97, the widow of Prince Mikasa, has not received the vaccination yet.
Unlike members of the general public, imperial family members do not register their addresses with municipal governments, and as such they would not receive vaccination vouchers from them.
The Imperial Household Agency had said in the past that it would coordinate with the health ministry and the Tokyo metropolitan government to secure vaccines and that, “We will follow the government’s policy and conduct vaccinations for them based on their wishes.”
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