Japan enacts law promising to cover coronavirus medical expenses for the disabled

From Kyodo

December 2 2020

TOKYO – Japan’s parliament enacted a law on Wednesday to cover the costs for residents to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, as hopes grow for the early arrival of vaccines following recent reports of progress amid a resurgence of infections.

In the event that vaccination causes serious side effects, the revised law states the government will cover medical expenses and disability pensions as part of relief measures and shoulder damages on behalf of the vaccine suppliers.

The House of Councillors unanimously passed the the bill to revise the current vaccination law after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledged to secure coronavirus vaccines for all the roughly 126 million residents of the country in the first half of next year.

Japan reported a total of 2,434 new cases of the virus on Wednesday 2nd December, bringing the nationwide tally to over 154,000.

Of the total, Tokyo confirmed 500 infections, the highest number since Saturday, when it logged 561.