As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18
- Japan expanded its COVID-19 vaccine rollout beyond the Tokyo metropolitan area on Thursday, with health workers set to be inoculated at 100 hospitals across the country by next week.
- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday inspected the country's vaccination program against the novel coronavirus at a Tokyo hospital, the first institution to begin inoculations the previous day.
- The United States will provide over $200 million in funding to the World Health Organization by the end of February as a step toward fulfilling its financial obligations as a member country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday.
As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17
- Participants at a three-day COVID-19 working meeting on Wednesday called criticism of the currently published Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic coronavirus countermeasures welcome but also premature.
- The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan plunged 98.3 percent in January from a year earlier to 46,500, down for the 16th straight month, after the country suspended the entry of all nonresident foreign nationals due to a surge in coronavirus cases, government data showed Wednesday.
- Another ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker quit the party Wednesday following a report that he visited a luxurious Tokyo nightlife venue despite government calls to avoid unnecessary outings under a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
- Questions and answers regarding COVID-19 vaccines and how to get vaccinated in Japan.
- Japan begins administering a COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday to an initial group of 40,000 health workers, before expanding to cover the elderly and people with preexisting conditions.