Japanese universities to start administering booster vaccinations

Universities will fully start administering third COVID-19 vaccine shots to students and staff later this month, and the education ministry is calling on more universities to consider such vaccinations.

On Monday, Hiroshima University became the first national university in the country to start giving booster shots. Initially, it planned to start the program on March 1, but moved up the schedule in response to the government’s policy of providing third shots early.

“We wanted to create an environment where students can receive shots early since there are those who will graduate,” an official at the university said.

“I received it early because I thought it is best to prevent a spread of infection by having as many people as possible get vaccinated,” 23-year-old graduate student Ryota Koike said.

Hiroshima University plans to inoculate about 34,000 students and staff members over the next two months, officials said.

Kindai University in Osaka Prefecture will start giving booster shots on Feb. 28, giving priority to students and staff members who will graduate or retire in March.

Tohoku University in Miyagi Prefecture will also start booster vaccinations on Feb. 28.

The University of Tokyo will begin providing booster shots on March 1, to be followed by Keio University in Tokyo and Osaka University in late March and Waseda University, also in Tokyo, in mid-April.

COVID-19 vaccinations at universities started last June with 364 universities, junior colleges and technical colleges administering first and second shots to a total of 1.55 million people, including students, staff and local residents.

Of them, however, only 176 universities, or less than half, have applied to administer booster shots, according to the education ministry.

Some universities have no plans to give booster shots, citing difficulties due to many events, such as graduation ceremonies at this time of year, and progress in inoculations by local municipalities.

“We don’t know how many people will receive (booster shots),” an official at Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo said. “Some students have returned to their hometowns after the second semester ended,” the official added.

An official at Nihon University said that it does not have any plans to administer booster shots. “The university hospital is busy dealing with COVID-19 patients and it is difficult to secure medical staff necessary for vaccinations,” the official said.

Education minister Shinsuke Suematsu, speaking at a news conference on Friday, said, “We hope that (more) universities will consider (booster vaccinations) to accelerate third shots, though there is considerable burden during this season due to entrance exams and other events.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has set a daily target of administering 1 million booster shots by the end of February and about 13% of the country’s population had received a third dose as of Friday.

The government is urging firms and universities to accelerate their inoculation programs as the daily number of coronavirus deaths have been at record levels recently even though daily new cases are seen to have peaked.

On Feb.12, ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. began offering booster shots for their employees and family members at Haneda Airport, ahead of other private firms that started workplace inoculation programs last week.

The government has agreed with Pfizer Inc. to purchase an additional 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by March to accelerate booster shots rollout.

The additional shots will add to the 120 million doses Japan already agreed to procure from the U.S. pharmaceutical giant for this year.

Besides Pfizer’s vaccine, Japan has agreed to buy 93 million shots and 150 million shots this year from U.S.-based drug companies Moderna Inc. and Novavax Inc., respectively.