Tokyo, Dec 29 (IANS): Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said the government will consider providing Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for all people in the country as much as possible, Kyodo News reported.

Kishida on Tuesday said in an interview with Kyodo News that the country's anti-virus measures will be made as fully operational so people can feel safe.

Japan has started giving third vaccine shots to healthcare workers since the beginning of December, and senior citizens will follow from February 2022, and then the general public later, Xinhua news agency reported.

The rate of those finishing two shots reached 77 per cent at the end of December.

Infection cases with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has not showed a surge in Japan, but community infection cases have been confirmed in some areas such as Osaka and Tokyo.

The government has offered free PCR and antigen testing in such areas and barred new entries by foreigners from abroad since November.

"Besides 31 million healthcare workers and elderly people, we'd like to consider bringing (the schedule for third shots) forward as much as possible," the Japanese Prime Minister added.