Japan uses Pfizer’s vaccine to give the 3rd dose to children aged 12-17

The decision was made after the panel reviewed immunization data from countries that have already started giving children a third dose, such as Israel and the United States. The rate of adverse reactions with the 3rd injection for the 12-17 year old group was similar or even lower than that of the first 2 injections. It’s important that there aren’t any serious safety issues. In addition, the third injection will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the vaccine, which gradually decreases over time after the second injection.

The MHLW plans to start giving the third dose of shots to 12-17 year olds next April. The department hopes the third injection will be effective against the highly contagious variant of Omicron.

In February 2021, Japan first approved the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to people 16 years of age and older. Three months later, the country continued to license the use of this vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years. As for the booster shot, in November 2021, the MHLW only approved this vaccine for use in people 18 years of age and older because at that time there was still a lack of clinical trial data for the 12-17 age group.

Regarding the situation of the COVID-19 epidemic, in recent days, the number of new infections in Japan has continued to decrease, although the decline is still quite slow. On March 23, Japan recorded 41,038 new infections, down 16,800 cases from a week earlier, and 122 deaths from COVID-19. The number of severe COVID-19 patients also decreased by 21 from a day earlier, to 916. Tokyo alone recorded 6,430 new infections, down 3,700 from a week earlier.