Christmas Day is five months away. How bad do you think the coronavirus will be in Japan then?

Well, the virus is not that bad is it?

How many people do ww know that have died from or with Covid?

Zero

Are people dying en masse in Japan?

No

I have less than a 1% chance of dying from this virus.

The virus should weaken as time goes on and people gain immunity

So, the answer is not …bad.

I can't foresee that far, but if the situation doesn't change, and the more infectious and fatal COVID-19 variants are still rampant, I'm guessing that our Christmas will still be celebrated separately.

Well, let's see.... despite the JOC and government saying no spectators, people SWARMED to see certain outdoor venues, screamed, laughed, and enjoyed themselves. All good fun, except that Delta is spreading rapidly, and these people just helped confirm The Olympics will be a super-spreader event. So, it'll be 3000 people by week's end, for sure, and adding that Japan is lacking in the vaccine and implementation AGAIN after giving away millions of doses, Christmas is likely going to be worse than the last two yers.

The thing about nasty surprises is that by their very nature they are difficult to predict. The Sinovac vaccine does not appear to be effective against the Delta variant, which means China could suddenly find itself back where it was in Feb. 2020. At the very least it's something to watch out for.

It depends.

If the vaccine rollout picks up again after the government's preoccupation with Sports Day is over, things might be looking quite promising by Christmas.

If the Olympic wave peaks and falls, things might be looking quite promising by Christmas.

If the vaccine rollout doesn't pick up and the twenty-somethings continue to party, it could be a very bleak Christmas.

If the Olympic wave gives birth to the Olympic variant, and the Olympic variant is more virulent/resistant to current vaccines, it could be a very bleak Christmas.

Last year the local shops were selling masks with Christmas decorations on them. They were cute, but I didn't buy any because it seemed a waste to spend money on something that would only be needed for one season.

Sigh. Whatever happens, I think we're probably still going to need our masks.

Who knows. It depends on the vaccine roll out, so I would guess things will be bad.

Well, IF, and I am not holding my breath here, IF, a majority of the population gets their full regime of shots, things may be looking up!

BUT, seeing as how the government cant get its act together, it may very well be another Christmas like last year!

Well the Gamma-Lambda variant may be going around by then, so there will likely be more lockdowns that accomplish nothing.