At a regular press conference on November 15, Sapporo Mayor Akimoto Katsuhiro announced that the city plans to introduce a digitalized vaccine passport (vaccination certificate) in mid-December, to prove of vaccination against the COVID-19 virus. A new smartphone app will be utilized to present proof of vaccination, so that the system can be tried during the year-end party season.
　
The city hopes to promote consumption in the form of special offers and the like, to those vaccinated, who will be asked to use an app on a smartphone to present their vaccine passports at restaurants, bars and the like. “We hope to be able to reveal the full details by mid-November,” says Mayor Akimoto, who is keen to get to work on the specific methods of the policy
　
According to the City, the national government is also promoting the digitization of vaccine passports but, in order to ensure strict personal authentication, it will be linked to the Individual Number Card system. However, as of November 1, only 36.6% of the city’s population had obtained an Individual Number Card. The City is considering the use of a private-sector app because it believes that the government’s specifications will have limitations in terms of ease of use and proliferation.
　
Meanwhile, the City sent out vaccination coupons to 16,000 people on November 19, in line with the rollout of the third round of vaccinations for healthcare workers, starting on December 1. The City will subsequently send out vaccination coupons every Friday, so that those eligible will receive them three weeks before the vaccination period.
　
At the Sapporo Park Hotel, a mass vaccination venue, vaccinations will be available without an appointment from the 17th, if slots are available. Applications will be accepted between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Vaccination capacities will be announced on the special Sapporo Coronavirus Vaccine NAVI page of the Sapporo City website by 5 p.m. the previous day. The vaccine available is manufactured by Pfizer in the United States.
　
The double-dose vaccination rate by age group in the city is 90% of those aged 65 and over, at least 50% of those in their 20s and 30s, and 30% of those aged 12 to 19.