TOKYO: Japan’s regulatory reform minister Taro Kono said Monday that the government is not set on having all schoolchildren inoculated against the novel coronavirus by the end of the summer break, revising a related remark he made the previous day.

“The government is not asking for all children (aged 12-15) to be vaccinated before the summer holidays end,” Kono, also in charge of COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Japan, told reporters.

In a television program Sunday, Kono said he hopes that schoolchildren aged 12-15 will receive their shots during the summer break so that they can return to school in September without worries about infection.

In response, some local governments informed the state that this would be difficult, according to Kono.

The minister said he wants local governments to refer to guidelines on vaccinations for schoolchildren that will be released by the education ministry this week.

Meanwhile, Kono showed his hope that university students will receive COVID-19 shots during the summer holidays if possible so that face-to-face lectures can be resumed widely from the second term.

During Sunday’s TV program, Kono said that immunity from novel coronavirus vaccines will last at least a year.

Asked about the basis for this by the press Monday, Kono said he was briefed by experts that the duration of immunity will be around one year.

Speaking at a press conference the same day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said, “As it has not been long since the COVID-19 vaccines were developed, we don’t have sufficient data pointing to their long-term effectiveness at the moment.”

JIJI Press