Countries that have secured vaccines for the coronavirus have been forced to make a hard choice: give two shots that will guarantee a higher efficacy, or give one shot to as many people as possible.
Japan, for now, is going with the two-shot option, but that could change if it cannot secure a sufficient supply of vaccines or if it becomes evident that a single shot is enough for a high degree of efficacy.
“If there’s strong efficacy even with one dose and that became the way to go in Japan, the (vaccination) method would change,” Taro Kono, the minister in charge of the vaccine rollout, told NHK on Sunday, indicating that the government will consider prioritizing single shots in a possible reversal of the current two-dose strategy.