JAPAN

Benefits of vaccine rollout begin to show in Tokyo infection data

Syringes filled with doses of the Moderna Inc. shot in Tokyo. New infections among front-line health care workers are likely to fall further, as about 75% of them in Tokyo have completed a two-dose vaccine regimen. | BLOOMBERG

By Osamu Tsukimori
Staff writer

Jun 25, 2021

As the vaccine rollout shifts into top gear, its effect is starting to show in figures in Tokyo, with the coronavirus infection rate plunging for front-line workers and older people — the demographics inoculated first.

Among the 560,000 doctors, nurses and medical staff in the capital, the number infected at hospitals was 46 in May, down from 526 in January, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government official said. New COVID-19 cases among medical staff accounted for 0.2% of the total in May, down from 1.3% in January.

Medical workers' falling share of infections clearly reflects the progress in vaccinations, said Dr. Tetsuo Nakayama, a project professor at Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences and director of the Japanese Society of Clinical Virology.

Benefits of vaccine rollout begin to show in Tokyo infection data

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