Japan has secured the largest quantity of COVID-19 vaccines in Asia, as it gears up for the summer Olympics. But it has inoculated only 1.6% of its population so far, the slowest among wealthy countries.
Twenty-four business leaders, including e-commerce group Rakuten's chief executive officer Hiroshi Mikitani, and Nobel-winning stem cell biologist Shinya Yamanaka said a bolder and coordinated effort was needed to speed up vaccinations. They urged the government to simplify vaccine application procedures, quicken administration of vaccines by allowing them to be done using a drive-through system andThe proposals also called for the government to manage vaccination records to encourage residents and visitors from outside Japan who have been inoculated to resume economic activities.