Japan may start inoculation against Omicron by end of September

Good news!!!

Everyone will have caught it by the time they start giving them out

Waste of time! With the recent case loads most people in japan would have already had the most recent Omicron variant and gained much better natural immunity than the non current variant specific vaccines can ever bring!

Good news. Hopefully this gets added in the New Year when enough people have had it to become a requirement to enter Japan without a pre-departure PCR test . Will be making an appointment as soon as the notification drops through the door.

Bring it on.

Yes, let's have the booster wear out before the winter wave again.

Haha, have fun with that.

"An experts panel of the ministry is expected to discuss soon whether they should be approved."

More like...

"An experts panel is waiting for their checks from Pfizer and Moderna to clear before they are approved."

Or perhaps...

"An experts panel, citing incomplete/inconclusive clinical trial data, is unlikely to approve."

Well, with the cap now officially raised to 50,000 incoming arrivals from abroad next week, let's make sure they are a responsible 50,000. Personally, I think testing at entry should be reinstated for those not triple vaxxed, in any case those morons still require a pre flight PCR. Let the rest of us breeze through.

This obsession with vaccines that are now proven not to confer immunity is utterly ridiculous.

Indeed Roy - Pre flight testing will be terminated next Wednesday (7th) - for this triple vaxxed. But those who are not are now going to cause bottlenecks at check in abroad and upon arrival here delaying the rest of us from being on our way in a timely manner.

You are right, testing on arrival just took too much time. Easy answer - unless you are a Citizen or Resident, if you are NOT vaxxed, don't bother coming. All for tourists coming back but ONLY if triple vaxxed. No exceptions.

Further reason to get your vaccinations up to date.

I notice all the alternative medicine people going on about ‘natural immunity’ and slagging this new vaccine off already. Natural immunity isn’t going to help much if you get Long Covid.

Natural immunity isn’t going to help much if you get Long Covid.

They think the chances of getting the unknown long-term side effects of vaccines is significantly more than the chances of getting long covid so it's okay.

 And how should those get their lovely "natural immunity"? By getting infected?

I really thought at the start they were just joking about preferring natural immunity over vaccination but they were dead serious.

They want to get infected to theyll get protection from infection.

Biggest joke of modern times

Now Covid is embedded in our psyche this type of nonsense will never end.

“The ministry panel this month decided to make Omicron-specific COVID-19 boosters available to all who have completed at least the first two-shot regimen and to make preparations so the additional inoculation can begin in mid-October or later.”

Thanks for this. I have still not been vaccinated.

If anyone would like less limitation in your life (like wishing to travel internationally) you may want to stay with the prescribed vaccine schedule. Would have worked for Novak.

Interesting these muppets still harping on about vaccinating everyone down to babies in the womb before allowing entry to Japan. This when they don’t even require vaccinations of their own citizen to leave and return…Never before have there been restrictions on travel based on vaccination status anywhere in the world and there have been ALOT more scary viruses around than Covid!

Never before have there been restrictions on travel based on vaccination status anywhere in the world

Stop embarrassing yourself Sanji, vaccination requirements for certain diseases to enter certaim countries have been implemented for a long long time

“If anyone would like less limitation in your life (like wishing to travel internationally) you may want to stay with the prescribed vaccine schedule.”

I wouldnot want to have a bit of “freedom” to travel now at the expense of injecting something am not comfortable with in my body let alone knowing nothing if it has any long term detrimental impact etc

All these comments about how people should have to be triple vaxed just to come here and so on, really ought to read up on the latest research regarding such coercive vaccination policies published by some of the most preeminent epidemiologists out there - basically, they end up doing way more harm than good:

https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/5/e008684

You can read the article at the link above - it is full open access: obviously not written from an antivax perspective, it is pretty scathing of such policies.

"Our analysis strongly suggests that mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policies have had damaging effects on public trust, vaccine confidence, political polarization, human rights, inequities and social wellbeing. We question the effectiveness and consequences of coercive vaccination policy in pandemic response and urge the public health community and policymakers to return to non-discriminatory, trust-based public health approaches."

Vaccine not mandatory in Japan

I wouldnot want to have a bit of “freedom” to travel now

I have a plan to visit Singapore and Bali. Because I'm vaccinated, I have this option. I don't have limitations of where I can go.

You can read the article

Which country (and there are many) think the COVID vaccine is poison like stated in this article? For example, every country knows cigarettes kill people, but to this day I can't find any government report (from any county) the COVID vaccine can kill you.

But it's gone? In all likelihood it'll be a different variant

Based on what predictions?

Even if a new variant is present (which is not a sure thing) antigenicity can still be similar enough to be neutralized by the antibodies by the omicron version of the vaccine, after all changing too much means losing affinity for the ACE2 receptor, and Omicron already has a much higher level of transmissibility compared with the original variants, so the possibility of a variant with even higher rates of transmission (so it can displace omicron) is lower.

There's a difference between:

They work effectively against and

They are said to work effectively against

The company is the one with the data, so this is the only valid way to express the results right now, a different result when used in the public while omicron is still prevalent would have a cost for the company that nobody would accept if they knew it would happen, there is no point in presenting false information now because there is much more to lose than to gain by doing it.

Everyone will have caught it by the time they start giving them out

Which at the moment do not guarantee not catching it again, and again...

Vaccinated people are at a lower risk from covid even for those that were infected before.

Waste of time! With the recent case loads most people in japan would have already had the most recent Omicron variant and gained much better natural immunity than the non current variant specific vaccines can ever bring!

That is not "much better" immunity, because it only comes from suffering the whole risks of the infection, by all purposes is the worse of the two, and as mentioned even infected people have lower risk after being vaccinated.

More than 80% of Japan is vaccinated and I have yet to see any zombies walking around. It seems the rate in the USA is under 70%, which is about a 15 percentage difference.

Japan currently states 18.6 million confirmed cases cumulated for the whole pandemic. Even if it is sensible to assume massive underreporting, that is still a far cry from "most people already had it", let alone "most people already had Omicron".

The massive under reporting is generally estimated to be by 5 - 10 X, so most people have already caught Omicron. Infection does provide better and longer lasting protection than vaccination. So there is no need to get this new "vaccine".

This obsession with vaccines that are now proven not to confer immunity is utterly ridiculous.

Exactly, there is ever increasing evidence that these "vaccines" do very little (if anything) to prevent infection and transmission, they do not reduce overall mortality, they have a high rate of severe adverse effects,... all they do is they (allegedly) provide a few weeks of reduced symptoms.

Infection does provide better and longer lasting protection than vaccination.

Still no, even if you lose your hand that is not a "better" way to avoid losing it again, "better" protection would mean NOT having the full risks of infection and still getting the immunity.

Several studies have shown that being vaccinated reduce the risk for people even after they were already infected, that means the recommendation to vaccinate is still the best possible protection you can get, no matter if the person was infected before or not.

This obsession with vaccines that are now proven not to confer immunity is utterly ridiculous..

Exactly

that would be the opposite of exactly, making up an imaginary definition of "immunity" that do not apply to any vaccine ever developed obviously means this is just false argument, which explain why the expert do not repeat it.

there is ever increasing evidence that these "vaccines" do very little (if anything) to prevent infection and transmission, they do not reduce overall mortality, they have a high rate of severe adverse effects

All three things completely false, vaccines do reduce transmission, specially by adding the effect of stopping infection in the first place, they DO reduce overall mortality, specially when counting the very important number of deaths for people that have preexisting conditions (that can be controlled for a long and prosperous life, as long as covid do not complicate things) and the rates of problems for the vaccines are a tiny fraction of what covid produce, even omicron.

all they do is they (allegedly) provide a few weeks of reduced symptoms.

And reduce importantly infection, and transmission, and the rates of complication, and hospitalization, and specially death.

So the same as previous vaccines do.

Vaccine not mandatory in Japan

to come to Japan or staying in Japan? Or just existing in Japan?

ummm pot meet kettle got any evidence of that or just more delusions?

Seconds of searching readily give a lot of information about the Yellow Card, it is still on use on many countries and is a prime example of something that you say has never existed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Certificate_of_Vaccination_or_Prophylaxis

One thing is to ignore something because of a personal bias makes you avoid looking for information about it, another completely different is to blindly assume anything you don't know about do not exist.

Pfizer and Moderna's team of social media public relations people are on major damage control today.

They are releasing a specific version of the vaccine that is said to be "effective against Omicron". There it is! Even the manufacturers are now admitting it - the vaccines rolled out last year are in fact NOT effective against Omicron, in spite of what many here have tried to claim repeatedly!

If in four months we discover a new Covid-19 variant, let's call it the Megatron variant (I know we've got some Mecha fans in here somewhere), will people still try to argue that the original and Omicron specific vaccines are effective against Megatron, even if all the available data suggests otherwise?

Personally, I think testing at entry should be reinstated for those not triple vaxxed, in any case those morons still require a pre flight PCR.

No, what needs to happen is that the endless burning of taxpayer dollars needs to stop. Enough. You either want Japan to open up or you don't. Enough of the smug fence sitting.

Stop embarrassing yourself Sanji, vaccination requirements for certain diseases to enter certaim countries have been implemented for a long long time

He's right, most countries never really put much effort into verifying up-to-date vaccinate status. I agree there are certain things you need to check for, however take for example the flu - I have never been asked to prove that my boosters are up to date. Why would this be any different for Covid, an endemic virus Japan wants to start treating like the flu?

They are releasing a specific version of the vaccine that is said to be "effective against Omicron". There it is! Even the manufacturers are now admitting it - the vaccines rolled out last year are in fact NOT effective against Omicron

Oh dear, if you concluded that releasing new vaccines effective against Omicron somehow means the old ones had zero effect on Omicron, all you're doing is proving that you lack the ability to use logic to come up with accurate conclusions.

They are releasing a specific version of the vaccine that is said to be "effective against Omicron". There it is! Even the manufacturers are now admitting it - the vaccines rolled out last year are in fact NOT effective against Omicron, in spite of what many here have tried to claim repeatedly!

They are much more effective than risking the infection, which is why doctors and experts keep recommending it. The illogical conclusion comes from thinking developing something more effective than the currently used option means the old one is 0% efficient, which is obviusly not the case.

If in four months we discover a new Covid-19 variant

So, what are your models, how is the probability calculated and what intervals of confidense this prediction have? obviously just making up something is not an argument to prove this is surely, or even likely to happen. It should at least have some kind of objective data to prove it is something worth of being taken into consideration. If not, anybody can come, put a completely different supposition here (for example that the next variant is as risky as the common cold, so no vaccine is necessary for it) and it would have the same value than yours.

So, what are your models, how is the probability calculated and what intervals of confidense this prediction have? obviously just making up something is not an argument to prove this is surely, or even likely to happen. It should at least have some kind of objective data to prove it is something worth of being taken into consideration. If not, anybody can come, put a completely different supposition here (for example that the next variant is as risky as the common cold, so no vaccine is necessary for it) and it would have the same value than yours.

This is essentially an entire paragraph worth of copium, but it's incorrect to state you haven't been shown data or studies refuting a lot of what you say in the past. You simply dismiss them because the data or information doesn't support your opinions, and isn't crafted or curated in a perfectly controlled setting intended to help/promote the vaccine manufacturers.

This is essentially an entire paragraph worth of copium, but it's incorrect to state you haven't been shown data or studies refuting a lot of what you say in the past.

You have put here exactly zero references that lets you make the conclusions you made. No data that proves lack of efficacy from the current boosters agains omicron, no data that says the next variant will make the next boosters useless for sure.

Science moves with evidence, if you present zero evidcence you can't complain about people dismissing it, it has not been presented in the first place. What data was dismissed?

Infection does provide better and longer lasting protection than vaccination.

Still no, even if you lose your hand that is not a "better" way to avoid losing it again, "better" protection would mean NOT having the full risks of infection and still getting the immunity.

Most of the evidence in favor of these "vaccines" focuses on the amount of serum neutralizing antibodies within a narrow window. They offer little or nothing in terms of mucosal protection and the protection against symptoms wanes rapidly, after which you are more likely to get an infection. In the long run, you are more likely to "lose your hand" (following your analogy) if you chose to get these vaccines.

Most of the evidence in favor of these "vaccines" focuses on the amount of serum neutralizing antibodies within a narrow window

Completely false, there is a lot of epidemiological data that simply compares rates of complications, hospitalizations and death that demonstrate the vaccines do reduce this risk.

They offer little or nothing in terms of mucosal protection and the protection against symptoms wanes rapidly, after which you are more likely to get an infection. you are more likely to "lose your hand" (following your analogy) if you chose to get these vaccines.

Completely false, no evidence that vaccinated people are more likely to get an infection (when compared with unvaccinated people) after any amount of time after vaccination. Using a false argument that is not based on any evidence clearly proves actual veridic arguments are unavailable to defend a mistaken position.

The above article doesn't really mention any data. Has this new "vaccine" actually been tested in humans? Lately, I've been reading and hearing they have yet to be tested in humans...

https://www.axios.com/2022/08/31/fda-retooled-covid-boosters-omicron?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

The above article doesn't really mention any data. 

When you mention "these vaccines" you include more than just this one, and the evidence for them (covid vaccines in general) is clear and includes much more than just neutralizing antibody levels.

Has this new "vaccine" actually been tested in humans?

Omicron candidate vaccines have, together with the data that proves the sequence of the  BA.1 (used for this vaccine) had no specific negative effects on people infected with the variant, it can be validly say there is no extra risk when compared with the version that has been tested in clinical trials. This (and the efficacy data) is part of the justification for experts to give their approval.

This is not something new, it is part of the process followed for example for the seasonal influenza vaccines.

The above article doesn't really mention any data. Has this new "vaccine" actually been tested in humans? Lately, I've been reading and hearing they have yet to be tested in humans...

I agree that there is very little in terms of data, but it's a different bivalent vax that the FDA just gave an EUA without any tests on humans: based on wild type strain and BA.4/BA.5, not the BA.1 based bivalent vax that Japan wants to use.