Japan rolls out vaccine slowly, despite looming Olympics

Of course the medical staff should be vaccinated first, but why their families as well?

For a country that is prone to so many natural disasters, Japan really sucks at moving fast in an emergency.

But by all means lets bring in olympic delegations from safe countries like India and Brazil without the obligation of vaccination. After all what could possibly go wrong with safely organised Olympics

Read this this week in the Japan Times.

Relying mainly on the Pfizer shot could simply Japan's vaccine rollout, which has been the slowest among the Group of Seven nations. The current approach, done through local municipalities, is designed for the Pfizer jab, Taro Kono, the Cabinet minister in charge of the vaccine program, said during a news conference Friday.

The Moderna shots "need a different deep freezer than Pfizer, and they have a different date between the first and second shots," Kono said. "We don't want to confuse municipalities".

There, that last sentence is (for me) the biggest head scratcher of this whole vaccine rollout. Hey, J-Gov and in particular, Mr. Kono, here is what you do. You slap labels on each freezer that says either Pfizer or Moderna. You also have the scheduling, lists, vaccine vouches, etc. seperated with each document, voucher, list etc labeled with big, easy to read words that say either Pfizer or Moderna. Oh, and here is a thought. Cancel the games and then put that money towards buying the freezers needed for the Moderna shots. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are very similar and since you have already approved Pfizer why don't you and your J-Gov buddies go ahead and approve the Moderna vaccine already. GET WITH IT!!!!

It has received more than 17 million doses from Europe so far -- but only around 1.5 million people have had a first shot, with just over 827,000 fully vaccinated. Criminal.....

The country's outbreak has been comparatively small so far, with fewer than 10,000 deaths.

So seeing these stats, this is telling the world that Japan is doing a fabulous job at containment in its own way. They are a world leader and should be praised.

entrenched bureaucratic hurdles

.. a bloated health ministry, multiple redundant layers of bureaucracy, overly cautious mindset... oh ya, and bureaucrats more interested in holding goodbye parties than getting down to business.

If it's true, I'm glad it's starting to weigh on public opinion. No people deserve to be governed this poorly.

I think even a Japanese doctor ought to be able to get this injection right. Not holding my breath though, given the awful standards here.

The government has deals with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna for enough doses to cover all 125 million residents, but it has only approved the Pfizer shot so far.

Too many people benefited from convincing the population that everything related to medical treatments is risky and dangerous, even the pandemic has been unable to change this retrograde anti-scientific position, so maybe losing the Olympics (and the huge amount of money invested) because of this problem will do the trick.

Experts say the cautious rollout is informed partly by past vaccine controversies. Strict rules include a requirement that vaccines be trialled locally on top of international testing.

The vaccine against HPV is a great example of these "controversies". The vaccine helps very importantly reducing cervical cancer, but shortly after being used reports appeared about some side effects that were supposedly related to the vaccine. The Japanese government instantaneously stopped recommending the vaccine and the media demonized it. Eventually it was demonstrated there was no such side effects, girls had the same rate of problems whether they were vaccinated or not, so the world kept vaccinating teenagers and preventing deaths. Except that Japan never did this, and thousands of lives have been lost (and will keep being lost) unnecessarily because of this.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30010-4/fulltext

So the COVID vaccines would not be the first ones where the Japanese government choose to sacrifice lives instead of acting rationally.

@virus:

So the COVID vaccines would not be the first ones where the Japanese government choose to sacrifice lives instead of acting rationally.

Is acting rationally a given and 100% the same across all cultures and people? It depends on how and where you were raised and rationalizations change with times and public sentiment.

They are world leaders in incompetency and stupidity. Just cause there have been relatively few deaths doesn't mean you can purposely slow down vaccinations. This is now the 3rd 'lockdown'. How many more businesses will suffer and people will lose their jobs. It's a joke.

Is acting rationally a given and 100% the same across all cultures and people? It depends on how and where you were raised and rationalizations change with times and public sentiment.

If you act directly against objective knowledge that can be proved as such, then you are acting irrationally no excuses, what depends on place and times is not the rationality of the decision, but the reasons why some people choose to act irrationally, that is a huge difference.

Criminally negligent.

The pace of vaccinations seems to be increasing a little to over 150,000 vaccinations a day (still too few) but Japan is now paying the price for dithering with approvals and not having sufficient urgency with the rollout.

For goodness sake, just get on with it.

virusrexToday 04:51 pm JST

Is acting rationally a given and 100% the same across all cultures and people? It depends on how and where you were raised and rationalizations change with times and public sentiment.

If you act directly against objective knowledge that can be proved as such, then you are acting irrationally no excuses, what depends on place and times is not the rationality of the decision, but the reasons why some people choose to act irrationally, that is a huge difference.

Your response is irrational according to my thoughts. But I respect you irrational response as you think freely from your frame of mind.

It has received more than 17 million doses from Europe so far -- but only around 1.5 million people have had a first shot, with just over 827,000 fully vaccinated.

I thought the slow rollout was because of short supply, as what JT has been reporting for the past few weeks.

Is acting rationally a given and 100% the same across all cultures and people? It depends on how and where you were raised and rationalizations change with times and public sentiment.

Acting rationally and rationalizations are very different.

"In Japan, people consider equality important," said Koji Wada, a professor at Japan's International University of Health and Welfare.

"So if there are only 9,000 items for 10,000 people in need during a disaster, for example, some municipalities wouldn't provide them," he told AFP.

Equality is a rationalization and unimportant and is in no way acting rational.

17 million doses from Europe so far -- but only around 1.5 million people have had a first shot, with just over 827,000 fully vaccinated.

The U.S. has been able to vaccinate that many people and more in a single day.

Japan, 90 days and counting...

Olympic organizers insist the rollout's pace will not impact the Games.

"We'll be able to deliver the Games even without vaccination," Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told reporters on Wednesday.

"Of course, if vaccines become available, that would be an upside... But as far as we're concerned, regardless of the vaccine, we will take thorough Covid-19 countermeasures to be able to deliver the Games."

I get it. So us public should pay for these bloated pork and barrel Olympics for decades to come and not get to enjoy them live at all, just so some politicians can show the world Japan fulfilled its obligation to the corporate backers. Nice.

"In Japan, people consider equality important," said Koji Wada, a professor at Japan's International University of Health and Welfare

No doubt the 1/3 working poor population, hit hardest by the pandemic, will agree with this learned professor. In what decade is this guy living?

But remember, when you get the Pfizer vaccine you have to keep wearing a mask or two, keep socially distancing, keep washing your hands 30 times a day, keep working from home and etc. Then hope one doesn't come down with severe side effects up to and including death.

And even then, if one doesn't die, the supposedly 95% effective vaccine... no, it's 'about' 90% now according to the corporation, hardly protects one from the virus.

The Japanese government needs to put Japan first and buy Sputnik V. If it's really necessary, like if the evil US government insists Japan has to buy the dud vaccine in order to continue selling goods in the American market (the quite small market compared to China), give a grant to Pfizer so the executives can buy more private jets and Caribbean islands then buy Sputnik V.

I agree.

"Japan rolls out vaccine slowly, despite looming Olympics"

In Japan, people consider equality important," said Koji Wada, a professor at Japan's International University of Health and Welfare.

Yeah, there is gender equality, the common taro with a geinojin or bureaucrat.

Yeah, there is gender equality, the common taro with a geinojin or bureaucrat.

A friend of my has a Ph.D in "Japanology" .... (serious). He tells me Japan as a society likes to delude itself that there isn't the explosive inequality that exists in USA. It's not as bad as USA but it's still terrible. Worse than most of Europe for example. The statistical facts clearly demonstrate this. I haven't looked into myself but can't image any reason for this guy to lie about it.

driven by a mixture of caution and entrenched bureaucratic hurdles

A perfect description of Japanese government, national and local. Thank you, JT!

We are totally fed up with politicians who run around screaming, "Takeshi desu, Takeshi desu, Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" in tannoy cars at election time and spend the rest of the year holding internal meetings and sending each other reports, getting NOTHING done.

"looming Olympics"

Definitely a good word to describe the Olympics!

The U.S. is about half vaccinated. Japan is moving very slowly it seems.

Japan has fully vaccinated less than one percent of its population in a cautious, slow-moving program.

This is Japan's excuse? They are being "cautious" Japan never ceases to amaze me!

But the slow rollout in the world's third-largest economy,

This is literally in EVERY article. Japan "may@ be number 3, but they are LAST place in the world, in equal opportunity between men and women, Human Rights. To me, the latter are more important. Economy may be big but the average wage in Japan is pathetic...who can survive off ¥4 million a year...

The U.S. is about half vaccinated. Japan is moving very slowly it seems.

Yet still over 50000 new cases a day and rising. Are you sure the vaccine works? It's gone from 95% effective to 'about' 90% effective. I think it's on the way down to around 50.

In Japan, people consider equality important," said Koji Wada, a professor at Japan's International University of Health and Welfare.

Nihonjinron, of which "professor" Wada seems to be a specialist in, is like many other pseudo disciplines in that it can be bent to support whatever opinion suits you.

Are there any people more obsessed with minutiae of hierarchy, like age for example, and have less of a history of equality than the Japanese?

Paul Today  06:34 pm JST

Yet still over 50000 new cases a day and rising. Are you sure the vaccine works? It's gone from 95% effective to 'about' 90% effective. I think it's on the way down to around 50.

In January and February there were over 250,000 a day. There's a clear correlation between when they started vaccinating and decreases in new infections. About 50% have been vaccinated so of course you're still going to have new infections because some are still refusing to wear masks and social distance.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

Fact Checking: Provide credible sources that say they're rising and that that vaccines' effectivity is going down to 50%,

I can't stop thinking about the optics of the Tokyo Olympics, and it has my mind spinning.

The IOC, Koike, and the LDP have repeatedly hyped up this event as a celebration of "triumph" over covid-19. Let's look ahead a few months.

The U.S. is on track to reach herd immunity through vaccination by the middle of summer. Israel is already nearly there. Many European countries will be well on their way by then. Aus and NZ are permitting travel between their countries because they've managed to contain the virus. In Taiwan, life has moved on. Even India is farther along in its vaccination program than Japan is.

When the Olympics begin, the world's eyes will be on Japan. What will the world see?

In January and February there were over 250,000 a day. There's a clear correlation between when they started vaccinating and decreases in new infections. About 50% have been vaccinated so of course you're still going to have new infections because some are still refusing to wear masks and social distance.

Thanks for the tip. There are the much talked about "waves" of infection. On a per-capita basis, 50000 a day is far worse than the current 4th of 5th or 6th wave we are in now in Japan. With half the population vaccinated and over 30 million who've million already been infected, what the hell is going on? Are people running around trying to get infected? No, sorry to say it but the Pfizer vaccine isn't looking the goods. USA can keep using it until their little hearts are content but i hope the Japanese government sees reason and gets Sputnik V ASAP.

“Rolls out...” sounds like something from the Flintstones. Stone wheels?

"So if there are only 9,000 items for 10,000 people in need during a disaster, for example, some municipalities wouldn't provide them," he told AFP.

So let me get this straight - if there are 1 million people needing their first dose, and they have 900,000 doses available... they won't vaccinate anyone?

Japan has fully vaccinated less than one percent of its population in a cautious, slow-moving program.

Japan has fully vaccinated less than one percent of its population in a bungled, incompetent bureaucratic mess.

There fixed that part.

Strict rules include a requirement that vaccines be trialled locally on top of international testing

Except that Japan was part of the original AZ testing and worldwide study,

So why the need to do it all over again?

hope the Japanese government sees reason and gets Sputnik V ASAP.

Not unless it suddenly decides it doesn't need local testing like the others!

Right now Daichi Sankyo and Takeda are producing AZ and Novavax locally and Daichi Sankyo by now has millions of doses already sitting around in storage.

The problem as was clear in the article is that the approval process, which is slower than a snail that has been run over by a car.

So millions of doses sitting around and at best they may be able to use them sometime in May but more likely Jun or later.

So Sputnik V approval if ever, would be sometime around when the pandemic is over.

""Japan has fully vaccinated less than one percent of its population in a cautious, slow-moving program.""

Yes sir, and if you keep this pace you wont have any one alive to Vaccinate.

Way to go Japan, but I guess I have to wait until next year before it's my turn!

I’m not waiting for Japan to get off it’s duff, I just bought my ticket for the USA in June and will get first shot the day after I arrive. Yes, I guess I’ll have to do the quarantine when I get back here, whatever...

Paul, you do realise even the Russian people don’t want the Sputnik V vaccine?

Yet still over 50000 new cases a day and rising. Are you sure the vaccine works? It's gone from 95% effective to 'about' 90% effective. I think it's on the way down to around 50.

The perfect example of the not often understood phenomenon (which Japan is on the cusp of experiencing firsthand) known as exponential math. You may want to Google that and understand how it works.

Zichi, really? Why, as far as my limited understanding goes I don’t see haw this makes a difference. Sadly a tad over 30 my self but there was no suggestion I shouldn’t receive the jab and I have not heard of any other country imposing such a limit?

Is this just a spurious excuse to limit the number of people claiming the jab to disguise the failure to manage the process adequately?

Experts say the cautious rollout is informed partly by past vaccine controversies. Strict rules include a requirement that vaccines be trialled locally on top of international testing.

It is perfectly understandable to be sceptical when presented with something you don't quite understand.

And the solution is simple. Legalise the vaccines like all the sorts of alcoholic drinks , tobacco and Chinese medicine. If the experts in Japan can't make the call at least give people the right to make the call themselves.

Also , I personally am even willing to even pay up to 100.000JPY per shot

So Sputnik V approval if ever, would be sometime around when the pandemic is over.

I don't think they will, I just wish they would. The pandemic will last much longer if Japan sticks to the proven inferior vaccines Big Pharma has concocted.

Paul, you do realise even the Russian people don’t want the Sputnik V vaccine?

I bet if you were tell 100 Russians they must take Sputnik V or the Pfizer vaccine, at least 99 would choose the former. The 1 would be the village idiot.

The perfect example of the not often understood phenomenon (which Japan is on the cusp of experiencing firsthand) known as exponential math. You may want to Google that and understand how it works.

Thanks for that Sun Tsu. You think after almost a year and half the virus can spread exponentially in a population the size of Japan? It's mathematically possible but would represent a ridiculously slow exponential process. One that hasn't been realized and for which there is no indication it will be. If Japan doesn't get the one vaccine which is proven to be highly effective and safe, Sputnik V, it's possible but highly unlikely.

Of course the medical staff should be vaccinated first, but why their families as well?

Probably because the vaccines will decrease the chances of the medical staff of getting sick (having symptoms), but they can still get infected (asymptomatic) and pass it on to their family.

If Japan doesn't get the one vaccine which is proven to be highly effective and safe, Sputnik V, it's possible but highly unlikely.

This is not true, if you want to compare between vaccines you need data from third parties of the same quality at least. At this point Sputnik is relying on unsupervised data from the developers that have been caught acting unethically on human experimentation, which raises the possibility they did the same with the safety and efficacy data.

I bet if you were tell 100 Russians they must take Sputnik V or the Pfizer vaccine, at least 99 would choose the former. The 1 would be the village idiot.

I think it would be 50:50 and if Pfizer was the only choice I am almost certain the Russians wouldn't complain much . Politics aside the Russians I have had chance working with had the outmost respect for both USA and GER. The things with USA have gone a bit cold but I think Germans won't complain much if offered the Sputnik V.

At this point Sputnik is relying on unsupervised data from the developers that have been caught acting unethically on human experimentation

I for one am perfectly okay with experimenting on certain criminals for example. Infecting sputnik vaccinated convicted murderer with c19 is not so bad is it ? It will give you the results you need and very fast .

@Paul

keep washing your hands 30 times a day

So if I take Sputnik, I will turn into a butaningen with serious handwashing problem. I guess I will go for Pfizzer.

keep working from home

Ok, thank for the advice, I am fully convinced to get Pfizzer.

Sputnik bad. Pfizzer good. You did a really good job in promoting Pfizzer.

I bet if you were tell 100 Russians they must take Sputnik V....

What's with you and Sputnik? Are you on pay-per-post deal?

zichiApr. 23  08:54 pm JST

We received our vaccinations appointments today but if BMI is over 30, which I am, they can't get the jabs.

Why not? The fatter you are the greater the risk you are of needing ITU care and dying of covid. Is this a way of rationing the vaccine? Killing off the fatties and their associated chronic health problems?

Who really cares anymore!!

All countries have 'strict rules' on vaccine testing, but they have instituted emergency protocols because of the pandemic. Japan has not.

To have 17 million doses and to be vaccinating at such a slow rate is criminal.

The vaccines need to reach the most vulnerable people - health workers, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions - at the earliest possible time.

There is no 'cultural' justification for a delay.

Japan has more experience than many countries a dealing with major emergencies, but in this case, the government has comprehensively failed its citizens.

It’s so obvious by the people who are surprised by Japan’s slowness that they are new to Japan. Japan is ALWAYS slowest. It doesn’t matter how often disasters have occurred. Japanese positively love to shake their heads and say “Too late”. That’s the culture.

All countries have 'strict rules' on vaccine testing, but they have instituted emergency protocols because of the pandemic. Japan has not.

Not as much of an emergency in Japan. People here are not as much affected.

What's with you and Sputnik? Are you on pay-per-post deal?

No. I just want to live like before the virus and there is no way I'll take the Pfizer vaccine. Even if I trusted it, in USA they are preaching that one still must wear a mask or two and etc even after being fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.

I know another person posted a link to the scientific journal which supposedly demonstrated Pfizer vaccines safety and efficacy. We now know at least to an extent it was Big Pharma once agaoin leaning on regulators and the journal publishers. It's just not clear to what extent yet. 95% to 'about' 90%. At least 2 years to 6~12 months. Could they possibly be any more vague? It's not as if it's @Flute talking about how many shots of nihonshu he put away last night. It's a medicine people put in their bodies!

So if I take Sputnik, I will turn into a butaningen with serious handwashing problem. I guess I will go for Pfizzer.

I think you should refrain from posting when drunk.

at this point Sputnik is relying on unsupervised data from the developers

If you hold you breath for long enough I think the firm from Holland which recorded and the peer reviewed journal in England which published the data will agree with you.

Even if I trusted it, in USA they are preaching that one still must wear a mask or two and etc even after being fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.

No, in the USA they are advocating still wearing a mask after taking any vaccine (they have 4 of them) until the country has achieved herd immunity. Which is actually what any actual doctor or expert would recommend. That's a very big difference you're wilfully omitting because you apparently need to promote Sputnik V in every post?

No, in the USA they are advocating still wearing a mask after taking any vaccine

So that includes the Pfizer vaccine? What's your point? The Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved in Japan. I don't care what USA is doing with the other vaccines.

That's a very big difference you're wilfully omitting because you apparently need to promote Sputnik V in every post?

What's the question? Again, I want to live like before the virus. For that, as far as I can tell Sputnik V is the only vaccine that can make that possible.

What's your point? 

My point is that all vaccines (that means your beloved Sputnik included) work in exactly the same way. Getting vaccinated doesn't mean the Corona virus magically dies once it gets inside of you. It won't harm you, but you can still carry it and transmit to other people. If those people aren't vaccinated, this whole thing starts again. That's why we all need to be cautious and patient until we get herd immunity. Is that really hard to understand?And that is exactly why the mask mandate is still in place in Russia:

https://tass.com/society/1267407

Oh and by the way, ad a side-note, even Russians aren't as excited about their vaccine as you are:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56250456

Again, I want to live like before the virus. 

Do you think that anyone on earth doesn't want to live like before the virus? We're all on the same boat, a boat that will only sink if we let enough morons put holes in it (by refusing to listen to what the doctors tell them).

If you hold you breath for long enough I think the firm from Holland which recorded and the peer reviewed journal in England which published the data will agree with you.

As long as the raw data is not available for examination (and it is not) then this is unsupervised data. They are asking people to believe everything was done properly, even when they openly disregarded extremely important ethical issues when they began distributing the vaccine without finishing, analyzing and publishing first the clinical trials, meaning they did things improperly. That is why experts are waiting for data from third parties to actually corroborate the efficacy and safety.

 Japan has fully vaccinated less than one percent of its population 

Very nicely slipped the word "fully" in there as the percentage of people that had 1 shot is now over 1%.

I'm looking forward to how they will word it the next 10,000 times they regurgitate this article, as the percentage slowly creeps up.

And that is exactly why the mask mandate is still in place in Russia:

https://tass.com/society/1267407

Oh and by the way, ad a side-note, even Russians aren't as excited about their vaccine as you are:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56250456

Good stuff. Care you provide any links not more than a month old? The second is almost 2 months old.

But I know Russians are very adverse to taking medicine they believe isn't absolutely necessary. I witnessed it. Not sure if it's for the better or worse. In the case of Sputnik V, it's almost certainly for the worse. As I stated previously, if you told Russians they must take Sputnik V or the Pfizer vaccine, I think 99 out of 100 would choose the former. The village idiot would choose the latter.

I don't "love" the Sputnik V vaccine. In a perfect world we wouldn't need vaccines. Only to again repeat what I said previously, of the available vaccines it seems to be the only highly effective and safe vaccine. It may well be the only highly effective vaccine period given Pfizer has started walking back the efficacy they previously reported. Big Pharma owns the government regulatory structures in regard to drugs or vaccines and any scientific journals based in USA which have been relegated to selling such medicine.

Getting vaccinated doesn't mean the Corona virus magically dies once it gets inside of you.

A vaccine is supposed to prevent infection. If the virus gets inside ones body, the T-cells promptly attack it and kill it. No vaccines I know about are 100% effective. I know this. If the Pfizer vaccine is 60~70% effective or less, I agree it's a good idea to continue wearing a mask(s), socially distancing and etc. Sputnik V is 97.6% effective and 100% against severe infection. After one gets both shots, no need for masks or any of that.

Sputnik V is 97.6% effective and 100% against severe infection. After one gets both shots, no need for masks or any of that.

That is not even an argument about mask use. Continuing their use is meant for stopping transmission from the people that are wearing it, not because they are at risk themselves. Unless a vaccine has properly analyzed data that proves no transmission of the infection after vaccination (and at this point no vaccine has yet this data, much less Sputnik) there is still complete need for the mask.

I'm wondering how much Nihonjinron might have to do with it, double-checking just to be sure, as of course "Japanese bodies are unique and different from Western bodies."

Quote: "A majority of Japanese already oppose holding the Games this summer..." I am with the majority of the Japanese and wish a popular democracy was in place to euthanize the Olympics. We do not need the burdensome Olympics. We need anti-pandemic medication and hospital beds. The LDP wants fun and games.

Yes I does take the use of a Doctor and a Nurse when a new vaccine has not been use on the patient before ( First time user ). It a standard medical practice. When given your second vaccine only a nurse will be used.

I am not, injecting low amounts of this virus into my body in the supposed attempt to reprogram my body to fight it!

As someone who will readily take the vaccine when given the opportunity, I fully support you in your decision to not get vaccinated.

But by all means lets bring in olympic delegations from safe countries like India and Brazil without the obligation of vaccination. After all what could possibly go wrong with safely organised Olympics

But by all means lets bring in Olympic delegations from safe countries like US, Brazil, Mexico, India, UK.. . there corrected for you... As for Olympics, think most of the athletes will be vaccinated before they land in Japan.

God bless America. This is one of the few times I can thank the fact that the US military is in Japan. My shot regimen was done two weeks ago today. I’ll gladly use my US tax dollars to my benefit the few times I get them