Japan to issue vaccine passports free of charge

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Japan on Monday said it will issue vaccine passports free of charge to facilitate international travel of its vaccinated citizens.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference in Tokyo that the documentary proof of immunization against coronavirus will be issued from July 26.

He said people can apply for the certificates in the municipalities they were registered as a resident at the time they got their shots.

The Foreign Ministry's website will put a list of countries and regions that will ease quarantine measures for those with a vaccine passport, Kato added.

Japan has reported 818,690 coronavirus cases including 14,948 related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

It launched a vaccination drive in February, and has administered 57.4 million doses, according to Our World in Data, a tracking website. About 17% of the country's 126 million population is fully vaccinated.

The government has approved three vaccines – Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Takeda, the local version of US firm Moderna's mRNA vaccine.

The country is set to host the much-anticipated Olympic Games from July 23, which were delayed last year due to coronavirus. Tokyo venues for the games will not have spectators due to the city's coronavirus state of emergency.