A COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 was formally classified Thursday by the health ministry as a provisional shot that can be received free. However, the ministry has also decided that children in this age bracket would be exempt from a legal provision that requires people to make efforts to get vaccinated, so it remains hard to predict just how many guardians will allow their young children to get the vaccine.
Some local governments are struggling over how to handle the rollout of these vaccines, which could start as soon as the end of this month.
Whether guardians should be required to make efforts to get children ages 5-11 vaccinated was the main agenda item during a meeting of a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry expert subcommittee held Thursday.
