Prime Minister, vaccination "as soon as possible" motivated to move forward

Questions from each party's representatives to the four government speeches, including Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's policy speech, began at the plenary session of the House of Representatives on the 20th. The prime minister has announced that he will start vaccination against the new coronavirus by late February. "I will do my best to get started as soon as possible," he said ahead of schedule.

He emphasized that vaccines are "the decisive factor in controlling infections." I answered the question of Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party.

In response to Yukio Edano and Seiji Osaka of the Constitutional Democratic Party, he said that he would "thoroughly examine the safety and efficacy" regarding concerns about side effects. "It is important to provide information that is polite and easy to understand for the people," he said.

When asked about nuclear energy policy, he emphasized, "I don't think we can realize the optimal policy with zero nuclear power." On the other hand, he said, "We will reduce the dependence on nuclear power as much as possible and do not anticipate new expansion or replacement (rebuilding) at this time."

Regarding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for this summer, he said, "We will work closely with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Games Organizing Committee, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prepare for it."

Source: https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQODE203UO0Q1A120C2000000