Japan will bring forward Covid-19 vaccination booster shots by as much as two months, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant sends infections soaring nationwide.

“The Kishida administration puts the highest priority on its coronavirus response,” the prime minister said in the speech marking the start of a regular session of parliament.

From March, booster shots for the elderly will be administered six months after the second shots, rather than the originally planned eight months, and the interval will be shortened by a month or two for other adults, he said.