People wearing face masks walk through the Shibuya scramble crossing in Tokyo, Japan, Jan 21, 2021. (ZHANG XIAOYU / XINHUA)
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / TOKYO / WELLINGTON – Japan's minister in charge of vaccinations said on Friday that the government's goal of administering 1 million COVID-19 booster shots per day was achieved in mid-February as efforts to speed up the previously sluggish inoculation drive proved effective.
The minister in charge of vaccinations, Noriko Horiuchi, told a press briefing that on Feb 18 and Feb 26 the number of booster shots administered on a daily basis exceeded 1 million.
Japan's health minister said that on Feb 18 and Feb 26 the number of booster shots administered on a daily basis exceeded 1 million
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had vowed to speed up the previously slow vaccination campaign, pledging that 1 million booster shots per day would be administered in the second half of February.
The government's push to expedite its vaccination campaign came amid harsh criticism over the booster shots' slow rollout by the government, as the highly-contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus ran rampant in the country, forcing numerous prefectures to be placed under emergency virus measures.
While the campaign has gained some traction, the government's figures showed that as of Thursday, the third jabs had only been administered to 22.9 percent of Japan's population of 125 million.
Meanwhile, Kishida announced on Thursday that he will further relax its COVID-19 border controls from March 14, increasing the daily cap on overseas entrants to 7,000 from the current 5,000.
Kishida revealed a new scheme at a press conference to give entry priority to foreign students, as business travel demand is not high.
About 150,000 foreign students are said to be still waiting for entry into Japan due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions that have been imposed in the past two years
The decision was made as phased easing of the entry restrictions have been the target of criticism at home and abroad for being too strict, and the demand for Japan to allow more entries was high, especially from foreign students ahead of the April start of the Asian country's school year.
"We will help students come to Japan by giving them (use of) vacant seats, especially on weekdays when there are not many business travelers," Kishida said, calling such students a "treasure" for the country.
"Many foreign students are worried if they can enter Japan before school starts in April," he said.
About 150,000 foreign students are said to be still waiting for entry into Japan due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions that have been imposed in the past two years.
Currently, up to 5,000 people including Japanese nationals overseas are allowed to enter Japan daily following an increase from the previous cap of 3,500 that took effect on Tuesday. The entry of foreign tourists is still not allowed.
Brunei
Brunei reported 4,885 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a new daily record high, bringing the total tally to 76,534.
As a country of 420,000 people, Brunei saw its daily cases exceeding the 4,000 mark on Monday, after recording more than 3,000 cases for six straight days since last Tuesday, marking the latest in a series of record-breaking days for COVID-19 infections in the Southeast Asian country.
The newly reported cases were all local infections, said the health ministry.
The ministry said earlier that the country is going through its third wave of COVID-19 and the number of cases is expected to increase beyond the total registered during the second wave, with the Omicron variant of the virus replacing the Delta variant as the dominant variant.
As of March 2, 55.3 percent of Brunei's population have received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while more than 94 percent have taken at least one shot.
According to the health ministry, six more patients died in the past 24 hours, bringing the coronavirus death toll to 135.
Currently, 35,617 active cases are being treated and monitored in Brunei, where 40,782 recoveries from COVID-19 have been reported.
New Zealand
New Zealand recorded 22,527 new community cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the country's Ministry of Health said in a statement.
A total of 13,252 cases were reported in the largest city Auckland. In addition, eight new cases were detected at the New Zealand border.
Currently, 562 patients are being treated in New Zealand hospitals, with 11 of them in the intensive care units.
New Zealand has reported 187,964 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 152,358 active community cases which have been identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered, the ministry said.
New Zealand officially re-opened its borders on Monday, lifting the COVID-19 border restrictions after two years.
The country is at the highest Red settings under its COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments and gatherings are limited to 100 people.