It is true that the rollout for the Booster shots in Japan have been slower than in many other countries, but at least it has finally started!
The 3rd dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was first offered to Medical workers in December 2021, and then to those 65 years old and older, and then to those 64 years old and below.
Those below the age of 18 years old can be vaccinated, but there doesn’t seem to be a Booster option for them at the moment. But if you have kids between 12-15 years of age, this information is for you.
Interval Period between the 2nd dose and 3rd dose
Medical workers | No age restrictions | Min 6 months |
General public | ≥ 65 years old | Min 6 months |
General public | ≤ 64 years old | Min 7 months* |
*Subject to change
Are the Booster Shots free?
Yes, there is no charge for all legal residents of Japan.
Where are the Booster Shots available?
The two quickest ways of finding out is to either wait for the vaccination vouchers to arrive in your mailbox, or to do an internet search with these keywords “area name ワクチン 3回目” (Eg. 池袋 ワクチン 3回目).
There are also two main ways of making a reservation. One is to call the clinic or hospital directly, and the other is to do it via the ward/city vaccination reservation website.
The thing is, you will need to input your Voucher number (接種券番号) if you use the ward/city vaccination reservation website, so you will need to have it in front of you before you begin.
Multi-lingual notifications and translations of the documents
Multi-lingual information on Covid-19 Vaccinations by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare can be found here.
Languages supported
- English
- Arabic
- Mandarin
- French
- Indonesian
- Khmer
- Korean
- Mongolian
- Myanmar
- Nepali
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
- Tagalog
- Thai
- Vietnamese
- FRESC Multilingual COVID-19 Vaccination Support for Bengali
Two Examples Ward/City reservation websites
What are the Steps involved?
- Receive your Vaccination Voucher in the mailbox
- Check when your eligibility starting date is
- Find a Vaccination venue and make a reservation
- Go down for the booster shot
What documents to bring
There are 3 important documents that we need to bring with us from what I have seen.
- Vaccination Voucher(接種券)
- Pre-examination Checklist sheet (予診票)
- Identification card or document(本人確認書類)
Vaccine Passport
If you need to get proof of vaccination, especially for travel purposes, or to maybe update your health records back home, you can use the Smartphone Vaccine Passport app. But you will need your myNumber card to do this.
A paper version is also available, but that will need to be obtained from your local Health Center office. Search using these keywords area name + 保健所保健予防課 (Eg. 町田市 保健所保健予防課).
Related posts:
My Covid-19 vaccination experience in Japan