Tokyo, Jun 21 (IANS): Japanese companies and universities on Monday began on-site Covid-19 vaccination for people aged under 65, while seven prefectures including Tokyo shifted from a fully-fledged to a quasi-state of emergency.

Major businesses administering the jabs included SoftBank Group Corp., Central Japan Railway Co. and Itochu Corp, reports Xinhua news agency.

On-sit inoculation also began at the Keio University, Tohoku University and Hiroshima University, among others.

The new inoculation campaign is aimed at speeding up the country's vaccination rollout and helping reduce the burden on local municipalities.

The two-dose vaccine developed by US biotech firm Moderna Inc. will be used for this initiative, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato has announced.

Kato said that workplaces and universities will be in charge of deciding who gets vaccinated, although he recommended that the elderly and those with underlying health conditions be given priority.

The companies and universities, he said, will also be in charge of sourcing their own medical personnel to administer the jabs amid the nation's lack of medical personnel qualified to give the vaccinations, which has contributed to the country's sluggish rollout.

As the government ramps up its vaccination drive, it lifted the coronavirus state of emergency covering nine prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka on Monday, with Okinawa remaining under the emergency measures until July 11 due to a surge in cases and an overstretched medical system.

Seven of the nine prefectures including the capital are now under a quasi-state of emergency until July 11, which allows for targeted antiviral measures for particular areas within a prefecture, rather than the entire prefecture itself.

Around 16 per cent of Japan's population of 126 million has now received at least one dose of the vaccine.