Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday that the coronavirus response is the government's highest priority, as reported by Reuters.

"Serious shortage of hospital beds needs to be avoided at all cost," Kishida added and noted that they will bring forward COVID-19 vaccination booster shots for the elderly and the general public by up to 2 months.

Market reaction

The market mood remains upbeat toward the end of the Asian session and the Nikkei 225 Index was last rising 0.75% on a daily basis.