As the government aims to achieve 1 million doses per day for the third dose of the new coronavirus vaccine, the maximum number of doses per day since the beginning of this month has reached more than 750,000.


In particular, the vaccination rate for the elderly is about 35%, and the government says that the issue is how to accelerate vaccination to those who wish.

Regarding the third vaccination, the government will gradually advance the vaccination interval, which was 8 months from the second vaccination, to 6 months from December last year, and realize 1 million vaccinations per day as soon as possible. I am aiming for.



According to the data of the Prime Minister's Office, the number of vaccinations per day has been increasing since the beginning of this month, but it is about 329,000 to 757,000.



By the 17th of this month, the number of people who received the third vaccination was 16,09146, which is 12.6% of the total population, and 42.7% of the target population by the end of this month.



By prefecture, the highest inoculation rate was in


Saga prefecture at 18.3%, followed by


Okayama prefecture at 17.3% and


Yamaguchi prefecture at 17%.



The lowest was


▽ Akita prefecture at 8.5%, followed by


▽ Kanagawa prefecture at 9.7% and


▽ Niigata prefecture at 9.8%.



According to the website of the Digital Agency, the number of elderly people aged 65 and over who received the third vaccination was 12.601114 as of the 19th, and the vaccination rate was 35.2%. The challenge is how to accelerate inoculation to the elderly.



The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare initially considered that there were many cases where the vaccination ticket was not sent in time because the local government was preparing for the vaccination interval of 8 months, so even those who did not receive the vaccination ticket can be vaccinated promptly. We are reminding local governments to put in place a system.

Rapid increase in home care personnel Difficulty in securing time and personnel for inoculation

Some medical institutions that receive the third vaccination are busy with medical examinations for patients infected with the new corona and cannot speed up the vaccination.



In Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, the third vaccination is performed by combining individual vaccinations performed at medical institutions and group vaccinations performed at local government venues, and individual vaccinations account for about 70% of all vaccinations.



Of these, the Itabashi Ward Office Mae Clinic, which provides individual vaccinations, visits the homes of the elderly who enter the facility and those who have difficulty going out, and inoculates at home.



In June of last year, when the second vaccination of the elderly began in earnest, more than 3,000 vaccinations were given in a month, but in the third vaccination, 1500 times, which is half of that in about one month until the 16th of this month. It means that it stays in moderation.



Due to the rapid spread of the infection, the number of home visits to home care recipients has increased sharply since last month, and it has become difficult to secure the time and personnel for inoculation.



Dr. Yoichi Suzuki of the Itabashi Ward Office front clinic said, "Last year's vaccination coincided with the time when the infection was relatively calm, so we moved up the number from the original schedule, secured more and more reservation slots, and handled a considerable number of vaccinations. However, at present, it is difficult to speed up the inoculation as expected by inoculating while being busy dealing with infected patients. There are many elderly people who just want to inoculate as soon as possible, so it is a difficult situation, but I will do as much as possible. I have to. "



Also, at other clinics in Tokyo, there are many patients who are cautious about alternating vaccinations with vaccines from different manufacturers and who are anxious about side reactions. am.

43% of elderly facilities also have a third uninoculated cluster

Progress in the third vaccination, especially in nursing homes, is an issue.



An organization created by facilities for the elderly held a press conference on the 10th of this month and announced the results of a questionnaire survey of more than 5,800 facilities nationwide.



According to this, 43.5% of the facilities have not completed the third vaccination by the 9th of this month.



When asked in multiple answers why the vaccination did not proceed, 27.1% said that the vaccine had not arrived yet, 24.4% said that they were thinking of responding after the vaccination tickets were available, and 16.3% said that it was the second time. Six months have not passed since the inoculation. "



Kentaro Higashi, chairman of the National Health Facility Association for the Elderly, said, "Compared to the first and second vaccinations, the overall sense of crisis was less and the communication between the local government and the facility was not smooth. I didn't feel the attitude of giving priority to facilities for the elderly in the distribution of vaccines. I want the national and local governments to know that they can get vaccinated without a vaccination ticket. "



On the 15th of this month, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare notified local governments nationwide to complete the third vaccination of desired residents and staff at facilities for the elderly by the end of this month.



After that, when we investigated the schedule of vaccination, only 74% of the facilities answered that they would complete the vaccination by the end of this month.



Under these circumstances, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of clusters confirmed at facilities for the elderly nationwide in the week up to 14th of this month reached a record high of 455, and some of the facilities had clusters while waiting for inoculation. ..



At the Long-Term Care Health Facility in Ibaraki Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, a cluster that infected 49 residents and staff in total occurred from late last month to this month, killing two residents.



The facility was planning a third vaccination this month, but the infection had spread before that.



Tetsuyuki Kimura, general manager of the social welfare corporation that operates the facility, said, "It is not always possible to get infected because I got the vaccine, but it was quite effective during the 5th wave, and I feel that the number of clusters of the facility has decreased dramatically. This time, I feel that the third vaccine was not in time for the spread of the infection. "