Japan's coronavirus inoculation campaign has been progressing slowly, with over 99 percent of the population yet to receive a shot about two months after its start, trailing many developed nations.
Out of Japan's 4.8 million healthcare workers, about 1.1 million -- equivalent to about 0.87 percent of the population -- had received at least one dose as of Friday, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Several factors are believed to be behind the slow rollout in Japan. Japanese authorities only gave their first approval to a COVID-19 vaccine -- the one developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech SE -- about two months after Europe and the United States did so.
Another reason is that Japan currently relies exclusively on the European Union for shipments of the Pfizer shot, and approval is needed for each shipment under the region's new export controls.
下麵是日本為迎接奧運設計的疫苗接種時間表
