Japan starts booster COVID vaccinations amid omicron scare

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has started offering coronavirus vaccine booster shots to health care workers amid growing concerns over a new variant of the virus that has already been detected in the country. Japan’s initial vaccination drive kicked off in mid-February and some medical workers who received jabs more than nine months ago are now eager to get additional protection — especially after the new variant known as omicron, which was first reported in South Africa last week, was found in Japan on Tuesday. Japan’s vaccination rollout got off to a slow start but surged from late May onward and now about 77% of the population has been fully vaccinated — a main reason experts cite for Japan’s steady slowing of infections since September.