Japan, still aiming to hold the Olympics this summer, starts COVID-19 vaccine drive

A medical worker in Tokyo receives a COVID-19 vaccine.
(Image credit: Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

Japan began its COVID-19 vaccine drive on Wednesday, with Vice Health Minister Hiroshi Yamamoto calling it "the first major step" toward ending the coronavirus pandemic.

The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were administered at the Tokyo Medical Center. The initial shipments of the vaccine will cover about 40,000 health workers, Reuters reports. More than 3.7 million additional medical professionals will then receive the vaccine, followed by 36 million people 65 and older.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.