Over 90% of main Japan cities to finish COVID vaccine rollout by Nov.

TOKYO, Nov. 13 Kyodo - Forty-three of Japan's 47 prefectural capitals, or 91.5 percent, will finish their initial two-dose COVID-19 vaccine rollout by the end this month, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday, as local governments prepare to move onto the next phase of the inoculation program. Japan's health ministry is expected to finalize details on third booster shots at a meeting Monday, with the shots set to be administered as early as next month. According to a government tally released Friday, 94.58 million people, or 74.7 percent, of Japan's population of around 125 million have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with almost 100 million having received at least one dose. The central government has called on local governments to wrap up their initial vaccination programs in early November, but in the absence of clear criteria many have aimed to finish once vaccination rates hit the 70 percent range. The survey, which was conducted across Japan from Nov. 5 through last Wednesday, found that 15 prefectural capitals have already concluded their initial vaccination program. Of these, eight cities including Nagoya and Fukuoka said they finished in the latter half of October, while seven others such as Yokohama and Okayama said they finished in early November. Among the other 28 prefectural capitals to conclude their rollout this month, 21 said they planned to do so in the week of Nov. 29. Three cities finished their rollout with vaccination rates of 80 percent or more, including Yamagata in northeastern Japan, which had the highest rate at 81.3 percent. Twenty-seven cities finished, or will finish, in the 70 percent range, while the remainder said they would finish in the 60 percent range or did not respond. Government data showed that among people aged 65 and over in Japan, 91 percent had been fully vaccinated as of Nov. 8, compared with 69.3 percent of people in their 30s, 66.0 percent in their 20s and 60.8 percent of those aged between 12 and 19. According to the University of Oxford's Our World in Data project, Japan's vaccination rate was almost on a par with Canada, which leads the Group of Seven nations at 75.1 percent, as of Thursday. Vaccination rates in the United States and Britain, which were initially far ahead of Japan in inoculating their populations, stood at 57.4 percent and 67.4 percent, respectively. ==Kyodo