The health ministry has given the green light for a newly developed vaccine to be used in publicly funded vaccinations, suspended since 2005, to prevent Japanese encephalitis.
The ministry has called on medical institutions and municipal governments nationwide to begin preparations to inoculate people aged between 3 and 7 twice with the new vaccine, which is thought to have less risk of side effects than previous vaccines.
It was developed by Osaka University and approved by the ministry in February.
The ministry stopped recommending the previous vaccinations in May 2005 following a report that a junior high school student developed encephalomyelitis, a spinal disorder, after being inoculated.
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