Japan begins COVID-19 vaccination drive amid Olympic worries

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is giving out its first coronavirus vaccines, months after other major economies with little time to spare.

Many are wondering if the campaign will reach enough people to save the Summer Olympics already delayed a year by the pandemic.

Japan has largely dodged the kind of cataclysm that has battered other wealthy countries, but the fate of the Olympics, and the billions of dollars at stake, makes Japan’s vaccine campaign crucial.

The effort faces worries about shortages of the imported vaccines and a reluctance among many Japanese to take them.

Workers treating COVID-19 patients were the first to get jabs.

Experts say Japan’s late rollout makes “herd immunity” impossible before the Olympics in July.