TOKYO: Japan’s health ministry decided Wednesday to extend a free vaccination program against human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer.

The decision came in response to temporary vaccine shipment restrictions due to a surge in demand since this summer.

Eligible for the extended program are women born between fiscal 1997 and fiscal 2008. If they receive their first vaccine shot by March next year, they will be eligible for free second and third shots within a year of the first shot.

In the country, regular HPV vaccinations were originally launched in April 2013. But in June that year, the recommendation for vaccination was suspended due to a spate of complaints of body pain and other symptoms from vaccinated women.

The recommendation was reinstated in April 2022.

JIJI Press