TOKYO (AP) — Months after other major economies, Japan began giving the first coronavirus vaccines to front-line health workers Wednesday. “I think it is more important for the Japanese government to show the Japanese people that we have done everything possible to prove the efficacy and safety of the vaccine to encourage the Japanese people to take the vaccine,” Japanese vaccine minister Taro Kono said. Critics say many medical workers are now helping out in the vaccination drive at a time when Japanese hospitals are already strained by daily treatment of COVID-19 patients. Image: Tokyo Medical Center director Kazuhiro Araki, left, receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Tokyo Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Japan’s first coronavirus shots were given to health workers Wednesday, beginning a vaccination campaign considered crucial to holding the already delayed Tokyo Olympics.

Source: Egypt Independent February 17, 2021 07:07 UTC