By KAI ICHINO/ Staff Writer
October 20, 2022 at 15:32 JST
A woman gets jabbed against an Omicron subvariant of the novel coronavirus in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on Sep. 22. (Takeshi Iwashita)
The health ministry, fearing simultaneous outbreaks of the novel coronavirus and seasonal influenza this winter, decided to shorten the minimum interval between vaccine shots for COVID-19 to three months from the current five to enable more people to get jabbed before the end of the year.
Officials said the ministry reached the decision Oct. 19 after gaining approval for the policy from a panel of experts at a meeting the same day.
The three-month interval will be applied to third and subsequent doses of vaccines manufactured by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc.
The panel determined that a minimum interval of three months does not pose an issue in light of data from clinical trials confirming efficacy and safety. They also noted that in Europe vaccinations produced by the two companies are administered at three-month intervals and at two-month intervals in the United States.
The government is expected to begin applying the three-month interval on Oct. 21 after a separate expert panel formalizes procedures under the Immunization Law at a meeting on Oct. 20.
In May, the government began administering fourth jabs to those considered at higher risk of becoming seriously ill, such as the elderly and people with underlying health issues.
An estimated 20 million people received a fourth dose designed to protect against the original novel coronavirus strain between August and September, when the vaccines were widely administered. The next inoculations will be from January to February if the five-month interval is implemented.
Concerns were raised that many people will not be able to get vaccinated against the Omicron variant as the year winds down because trends over the past two years show infections are expected to spread from the year-end to early in the new year.
The government pledged to make more than 1 million doses available on a daily basis from October to November to prepare for an eighth wave of the health crisis.
Currently, between 200,000 and 300,000 receive vaccine shots against the Omicron variant each day.
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