Ibaraki Prefecture decides staff and residents at facilities for people with disabilities are to be given vaccine priority

From NHK

April 16 2021

IBARAKI Pref – The vaccine for the new coronavirua has begun to be given to the elderly on a priority basis, Ibaraki Prefecture has decided that residents and staff of facilities for the disabled will also be newly subject to priority vaccination, following a series of clusters of infected people at several facilities for the disabled in the prefecture.

As for the vaccination of the elderly, which started on the 12th of this month, Ibaraki Prefecture has so far started to give priority to residents and staff of elderly facilities.

There have been several clusters of the disease in facilities for the disabled in the prefecture, and since these facilities have an unavoidable environment where people live together and get close to each other, the prefecture has decided to give priority to vaccination in residential facilities for the disabled as well as the elderly, and has notified the municipalities in the prefecture.

The new priority inoculations will be given to residents and staff of facilities for the disabled in the prefecture, including those under the age of 64.

According to the prefectural government, there are about 330 residential facilities and group homes for the disabled in the prefecture, with a capacity of about 8,000 residents.

According to the prefectural government’s vaccination team, it is important to prioritize residential facilities because many people in residential facilities are difficult to be transferred to hospitals even if they are infected, making it difficult to control the cluster once it occurs.