Japan outlines cautious vaccine schedule ahead of first shots

Japan is starting its coronavirus vaccination program on Wednesday.

Li, who shipped 600 of those doses internationally via Hong Kong on November 12, went on to make a $140,000 profit, the outlet said. The sales were apparently made via "internal channels" of genuine manufacturers.

"We are still trying to secure these special syringes", Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday.

About 15.6 million people in the country have been vaccinated with a first dose and 546,165 with a second dose, the fastest roll-out per capita of any large country.

Health care workers who have the greatest exposure to potential COVID-19 patients will also be included in the first round of jabs, which will be rolled out progressively.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said vaccinating our quarantine workers is an important milestone in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This answers the lingering question of whether or not one can still test positive after being vaccinated.

"When it comes to what's left in vials and syringes, what's unused will be disposed of", Kato said.

As of Monday morning, February 15, at least 38,292,270 people in the US have received at least one dose of either Pfizer's or Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC, and 14,077,440 people have gotten both doses.

Both a Pfizer Japan spokeswoman and a Japanese health ministry official declined to say whether the contract to supply Japan with 144 million doses of vaccine by the end of the year is based on six doses being taken from each vial.

According to a court ruling, Kong and his team made a profit of 18 million yuan ($2.78 million) by putting saline solution or mineral water in syringes and hawking them as Covid vaccines since August past year.

"High testing rates give us the best chance of finding new cases in the community, so even after the vaccine rollout starts, it is vital people still get tested", Dr Chant said.

Although daily cases have been in decline in recent weeks in Japan after peaking in early January, Tokyo and nine other prefectures are still under the coronavirus state of emergency.