By NAOKI KIKUCHI/ Staff Writer
June 10, 2021 at 17:49 JST
The mass vaccination center in Tokyo, run by the Self-Defense Forces, in the capital’s Chiyoda Ward on June 9 (Kaigo Narisawa)
The government will allow elderly people nationwide to receive shots at COVID-19 mass vaccination centers run by the Self-Defense Forces in Tokyo and Osaka, scrapping the rule that one must live in those or nearby areas.
The Tokyo venue is currently restricted to residents aged 65 or older from the capital and Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures and the Osaka venue is restricted to residents from Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures.
The government plans to maintain the age requirement of 65 or older, but to accept reservations for jabs from residents living across the nation and expects business travelers going to Tokyo and Osaka can receive shots there.
The Defense Ministry will accept bookings for the shots as soon as it has completed preparations for the process.
The move to relax restrictions comes amid large vacancies in bookings for vaccinations at the centers, which began operating on May 24.
Initially, slots for vaccinations were fully booked, but as of 10 a.m. on June 10, the Tokyo venue had about 113,000 open slots for jabs between June 14 and 27, or about 80 percent of its total 140,000 slots, according to the Defense Ministry.
In addition, the Osaka venue had about 49,000 vacancies for those dates, or about 70 percent of its total 70,000 slots.
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