Yomiuri newspaper reported that a hospital and a vaccination center in Japan had to drop about 2,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 due to a storage temperature problem. Meanwhile, 12 doses of the vaccine in a Ward in Tokyo were also dropped because of dilution. It is unclear what caused more than 5,000 remaining doses of the vaccine to be dropped.

Omuta Hospital in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan issued a statement apologizing for the wasteful incident. "We deeply regret having to cancel some vaccines due to management negligence amid the many locals' desire to be vaccinated."

Japan is actively promoting the national Covid-19 vaccination program with less than 50 days to go until the Tokyo Olympics. Japan now vaccinates at least 1 shot for 9% of the population, a relatively low percentage compared to developed economies.

Tokyo will host the Olympics in late July and early August after a year of delays because of Covid-19. The Organizers of the Olympics decided to still host the event despite Japan having to deal with the fourth wave of Covid-19. To date, Japan has recorded more than 760,000 cases of Covid-19, of which more than 13,500 have died.