Japan extends state of emergency, approves two more vaccines

Japan is extending its state of emergency to another prefecture and approving two new coronavirus vaccines as it continues its fight against the virus ahead of hosting the Olympics.

The state of emergency was extended to the island of Okinawa, making it one of nine prefectures to be under a state of emergency in Japan, Reuters reported.

The country also approved two new vaccines, Moderna and AstraZeneca, amid a slow vaccination rollout in the country.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been the only approved vaccine so far and only 4.1 percent of the country has been vaccinated, according to Reuters.

Although AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been approved, it will not be used right away due to fear of blood clots.

“We’ll do our utmost in working to ensure that all elderly people who seek vaccinations can get their two shots by the end of July,” Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

Japan has faced rising pressure to cancel the Olympics as the country has been struggling with the virus.

A petition with more than 350,000 signatures was made against the games and a group of Japanese doctors also called for the games to be canceled.

Olympic and Japanese officials have said there are no intentions of canceling the games.

There have been over 706,000 reported coronavirus cases and over 12,000 deaths in the country.