ANA, JAL start 3rd round of workplace COVID vaccinations

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:29 JST, February 12, 2022

ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. began the third round of COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees on Saturday, ahead of other major companies.

Pilots and flight attendants who work on international flights are eligible to be vaccinated at this time.

A total of 10 employees from both airline companies gathered in a conference room at Haneda Airport Terminal 1, which was the designated vaccination site, at around 10 a.m. on the day.

“I hope many people will feel reassured while traveling on a plane,” said a JAL flight attendant after being vaccinated.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the site on the day. Kishida wants 1 million booster shots to be administered per day by the second half of this month. On Tuesday, the government announced its plan to move up the rollout for workplace vaccinations to Feb. 21 and urged companies to begin administering boosters earlier if they can.

The government plans to distribute to workplaces 7.6 million doses by the end of February and 2 million more doses by the end of March.