TOKYO: The Tokyo metropolitan government launched on Tuesday its mass coronavirus vaccination program for police and firefighters at the site of the now-defunct Tsukiji wholesale food market in the Japanese capital.

At the mass vaccination venue in Chuo Ward, some 57,000 members of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Tokyo Fire Department will be vaccinated first, followed by members of local fire brigades and judo therapists aged under 65.

Up to some 5,000 people a day are expected to receive vaccinations at the venue.

The mass vaccination venue will move to Yoyogi Park in Shibuya Ward in July, as the former site of the Tsukiji market is set to be used as a base for transportation vehicles during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer.

In Tokyo, municipalities are carrying out mass and individual vaccinations, while the central government has set up a mass vaccination venue within a government building in the Otemachi business district in Chiyoda Ward.

The metropolitan government plans to open more mass vaccination sites in the near future to accelerate COVID-19 inoculations.

“I think the risk of me becoming infected has now been reduced,” a 45-year-old male firefighter of the Tokyo Fire Department said after receiving his shot. “I feel relieved because I meet local residents regularly due to my job, which involves conducting disaster drills,” he said.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters, “Using the Tsukiji venue as a model, we want to take effective steps at the venues we will add later.”

JIJI Press