Japan reaches 100 million vaccine doses as focus shifts to youth

Japan has administered more than 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines and surpassed the U.S. in the proportion of elderly fully vaccinated, according to government figures released Tuesday.

The vaccination milestone comes as Japan, like many other nations, is in the midst of a fresh wave of coronavirus infections attributed to the delta variant. Japan and its capital of Tokyo have reported record daily infection numbers for several days this month, as the Summer Olympics were drawing to a close. Most of the new infections have been among those in their 20s and 30s, showing the impact of the gap in inoculation rates between the elderly and the rest of the population. As vaccinations open up to younger demographics, experts have expressed concern about hesitancy among the youth, who are less likely to get serious symptoms from Covid.