About 97% of 116 large Japanese companies responding to a survey said they plan to carry out COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace, covering at least 2 million people.

The results of the Kyodo News survey, released on Saturday, also showed that 59% of companies plan or have already decided to allow employees to have “vaccination leave” on the day of vaccination or the next day if they suffer from side effects.

As Japan seeks to step up the pace of its daily COVID-19 injections and expand eligibility to younger people, the government unveiled a plan earlier this month to allow businesses and universities to start launching their own immunization programs starting Monday.

The survey covered 127 large companies, of which 116 responded. Currently, entities planning to vaccinate more than 1,000 people are allowed to do on-site vaccinations in Japan, where 99.7% of businesses are small to medium-sized and one of the biggest challenges would be to address the disparities in vaccination matters.

The 112 companies that plan to carry out vaccinations include cosmetics maker Shiseido Co., trading house Marubeni Corp. and investment and tech conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., which said it would immunize about 150,000 people, including family members of their workers.

In the survey, carried out between June 4 and June 16, 39 companies said they have already set a departure day, with 28 of them, such as camera maker Canon Inc. and Central Japan Railway Co., starting their programs Monday. About a third of the companies surveyed said they had rough timelines.

Regarding locations, with multiple responses allowed, 72 companies chose their headquarters, 47 selected branches and 24 selected factories.

He revealed that 69 companies, including electronics conglomerate Toshiba Corp. and sportswear maker Asics Corp., would introduce the new holiday, while 19 expressed concerns about post-vaccination side effects.

Beverage maker Suntory Holdings Ltd. said he would cooperate with nearby medical institutions. Osaka Gas Co. said it will set different vaccination days for employees working in the same section.

Japan’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout, which began in February and has been criticized as slow, has recently gained momentum as state-run mass vaccination centers have also extended vaccinations to the elderly. from 18 to 64 years old to fill vacant positions.