Japan starts vaccinating people aged 18 or older at large-scale centers

How is a 21 year old in Tokyo able to get a shot?

If you need to get a voucher first, are students getting priority before others under 65?

This roll out is such a mess.

And can someone tell me how exactly does someone under the age of 65 receive a coupon?

My town is still restricting these coupons to the over 65 until the end of this month. The only young people getting the vaccinations are those who are given them at their companies or universities. An absolute fiasco. The Japanese are their own worst enemy. Have they ever wondered why the centers are still not fully booked? They create barriers just for the sake of it. Many of my younger relatives around the world have already been offered a vaccination, and the kids will get theirs soon too.

How is a 21 year old in Tokyo able to get a shot?

If their university or workplace is giving them out, they do not require a voucher from what I have seen. Or if their local ward has sent the vouchers, they may be able to get a vaccine from a group or individual location. It all depends on the ward. Even yesterday, the govt said, they would reward those municipalities who were efficient at getting the jabs into arms. And those that were slow would not get new vaccine until they are out in an effort to avoid waste.

If you need to get a voucher first, are students getting priority before others under 65?

If they have a voucher, yes they are priority before those without a voucher. However, with a voucher under 65 is basically a free for all.

This roll out is such a mess.

True that.

Got my coupon, but can't get an appointment. All SDF slots are booked and my city is not yet accepting scheduling requests for the coupon they sent me...

Anybody received a coupon? Nothing here in Setagaya-ku.

This week I had to do my annual health check. Why they didn’t push vaccines to those clinics as well? They have more than qualified staff to administer vaccines.

A vaccination coupon sent by a local municipality is required to make a reservation via the Defense Ministry's website, the Line messaging app service or a phone call.

That is one major catch right there. I think it's about time Kono orders city halls to send these out. Full stop.

People on this site laughed at me when I said that 50m doses would be administered by the Olympics, however at 26.3M now, maybe I was being too conservative.

need two doses remember so 26m so far thats not 26m people fully vaccinated , thats only about half that number fully vaccinated

I still have not received my vaccination coupon. The Japanese bureaucracy is shockingly incompetent...except when it comes to hitting you up for taxes.

Just drop the voucher requirement. What are they worried about, someone stealing doses?

Why not small scale centers?

Lots of doctors sitting around in their clinics that could be part of the vaccination effort.

Why not small scale centers?

Lots of doctors sitting around in their clinics that could be part of the vaccination effort.

My district in Tokyo has over 170 small clinic locations giving out jabs. Most wards in Tokyo have some number of local clinics giving out jabs. Check your local city homepage, the info will be there, not on Japantoday.

I am so happy I am a retired US Military person. I had my shots already. Easy to make appointments and hardly any waiting. I feel for all the expats that will be put on the bottom of the list. At the rate Japan is going it will take almost a year to get to 90%.

@Commodore Perry

Small clinics don't have the special fridges that are required to keep the temp. at -80 or what ever it is.

From the photo man on the left has a sign pointing to the right, man on the right a sign pointing to the left, confusion about this whole process is prolific. And there are signs behind these men, and you can bet there are a multitude of people pointing at things after that....can’t say more I will be deleted

This is a good thing; however, Japan needs to follow developed countries and get local clinics involved. No reason to go about it this way at all.

100% this. Also need to forget about the coupons and just jab anyone who is there and wants it. Too much waste.

Need a catchphrase and cute angle similar to ‘mottainai’ and ‘omotenashi’.

It would be better to hold off on young people. The CDC is investigating myocarditis in that age group. Get the old folks taken care of first

Vaccinations tracking at over 1M per day now, and if anything looks like it could be ramped up even further.

No

Max has been around 800,000 a day ( source NHK)

9.27%

My coupon arrived yesterday along with that of my wife. Oddly, my wife is already fully vaccinated through her clinic. I haven't tried booking yet as I haven't had time to look at the details. I'm guessing it'll take a while before I can get in now though.

I still have not received my vaccination coupon. The Japanese bureaucracy is shockingly incompetent...except when it comes to hitting you up for taxes.

The same here. My city tax bill arrived like clockwork this morning and has a 2 week deadline to pay it. Very efficient.

Nakano ward sent vouchers to everyone 18-64 on June 9-10. Over 65 had theirs earlier. Got my Otemachi reservation this Sunday! Don’t know why other wards are slow compared to Nakano. Anyone know?

https://www.vaccine.mrso.jp/sdftokyo/VisitNumbers/visitnoAuth/

I think this is the reservation site, but it says you need the voucher from your local city office.

Adachi-ku starts sending them out on the 28th. Oldest to youngest over a month’s span of time.

Reuters uses data from NHK and the MHLW, and this morning’s update had the 7-day average at nearly 900,000, so the poster’s claim that Japan is now tracking at over 1M per day is likely accurate

No, so far around 900,000 has been the highest going by the official numbers released(https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/headline/kansensho/vaccine.html). What is important is to open the PDFs out excel files provided there and not just look at the big number on the website itself. The number for the medical workers is always the same on the website and in those files and they never have to update the number for past dates (so they get accurate numbers every day).

For the elderly the numbers for every day get updated daily. That unfortunately means that the great looking number on their website for the elderly really just isn't the new doses administered on the day before + all the doses that have been added on all the days before. Usually the first update is always a big one (around 90,000 to 100,000) buy then falls off. It is absolutely possible that they have reached 1 million by now (since the numbers are not absolutely accurate) but at least for the medical workers and the elderly the number has so far not officially reached 1 million. There was also a photo showing a flight attendant getting a jab the other day and those are not included in those official numbers either.

So have they reached 1 million? Maybe, maybe not... It's very much possible but I'd never make that call based on the official numbers.

Just drop the voucher requirement. What are they worried about, someone stealing doses?

With the amount of psychosis surrounding this virus, I wouldn't be surprised if people tried to get more than their fair share. "I got 4 extra shots just in case!"

Yokohama yesterday said 'wait your turn to get a voucher' for under-65's with pre-existing condition (transplant patient on immunosuppressants), so they are but then again, they aren't prioritising this group. How then is it possible that some groups like high school and uni students are now defined as priority. Ah yes, because exams! Because jobhunting! And then naturally athletes, because Olympics. Of course, silly me!

My partner is going spare. I already got mine through my workplace in May, but watching this shambolic system brings tears to my eyes.

Asiaman7June 17 08:10 pm JST

Doesn’t the link you provide clearly show 16 June’s increase over the previous day as ＋118,735 medical personnel and ＋1,161,201 others?

Unfortunately it seem like you neither read my explanation nor checked the PDF provided on the site (that stuff I explicitly mentioned in my comment). Take a look at the files provided on the very same website and you'll notice that they list 566,014 doses for June 16 (for the numbers provided on June 17; they will likely update them on June 18). Amazing how they can have two different numbers for the same group on the same day, right?

So like I said before, the 1,161,201 on the website are the 566,014 doses from June 16 + all the doses that have been added to other days on June 16. It is not the number of doses administered to the elderly on June 16. For the days predating June 16 they updated the numbers for the respective days which add up to 595,187 doses. For some reason they add the doses added to those days also to the number of new doses for the last day shown on the website. But seeing how you did not bother to verify the number shown on the website (despite the PDF and Excel giving you the option to, even after you were pointed to these), it probably works as intended and people will just see that one big number and believe it...

Can we book randomly, or do we need first a coupon ? Because I have got anything.

As of 10 a.m. Thursday, around 90 percent of the 70,000 slots at the Tokyo center between next Monday and June 27 were filled.

More busy than what I was expecting

Nikkei updates the rollout or "vax-meter" showing inoculation numbers & other key indicators (e.g. side effect cases) for each prefecture across the country.

This infographic site is my favorite, but if there's something better, please share it. "Official" Kantei's HP also publishes the brief version of it.

チャートで見る日本の接種状況　コロナワクチン

https://vdata.nikkei.com/newsgraphics/coronavirus-japan-vaccine-status/

I believe that there are some, who are more immune to such infections more than others.

We need to study those individuals more to understand why.

I, am one of those individuals. I have never had a flu jab, never taken inoculations, and I never get sick...

Let those who need to have them, receive the inoculations. And based upon my history and personal belief, I wish to let others jump the queue in front of me. That's my bit, for humanity. I don't suggest you follow my example, other than to do what you feel is right.

ConfusiusToday  07:25 am JST

Asiaman7June 17 08:10 pm JST

Doesn’t the link you provide clearly show 16 June’s increase over the previous day as ＋118,735 medical personnel and ＋1,161,201 others?

… the 1,161,201 on the website are the 566,014 doses from June 16 + all the doses that have been added to other days on June 16. It is not the number of doses administered to the elderly on June 16. For the days predating June 16 they updated the numbers for the respective days which add up to 595,187 doses. For some reason they add the doses added to those days also to the number of new doses for the last day shown on the website. 

Excellent explanation. Thank you. So for 14 June, we would have 214,965 + 665,241 = 880,206. And this total might be adjusted upward as numbers continue to roll in.

"I was anxious about getting infected as face-to-face classes have resumed at my university. We take tests and submit reports around this time, so I'm slightly relieved after receiving a shot," said Ryoto Matsuda, a 21-year-old university student at the Tokyo center.

Face-to-face classes in high schools have been going on for a whole year Ryoto, tampen down your worry eh?!

AkulaToday  04:31 pm JST

Vaccinations tracking at over 1M per day now, and if anything looks like it could be ramped up even further.

People on this site laughed at me when I said that 50m doses would be administered by the Olympics, however at 26.3M now, maybe I was being too conservative.

You made the call amongst many doubters. At a million per day, with a significant surge expected as more universities and companies begin offering vaccinations next week, we could most certainly be beyond 60 million by the time the Olympics begin.

ronToday  05:28 pm JST

People on this site laughed at me when I said that 50m doses would be administered by the Olympics, however at 26.3M now, maybe I was being too conservative.

need two doses remember so 26m so far thats not 26m people fully vaccinated , thats only about half that number fully vaccinated

Um … did he ever insinuate that 26 million doses is equivalent to 26 million fully vaccinated people? Nope.

Just drop the voucher requirement. What are they worried about, someone stealing doses?

No. They're just scared that life would be boring without red tape and bureaucracy.

What is with this silly "must have a voucher" thing?? Just another ridiculous burden...

If you live in Japan, you should be able to get the virus. Everyone over has some form of government ID. University ID, passport etc that shows your age.

Just let people make a reservation at location and time of choice (if you can as they will get swamped but hey better than applying for a voucher, then applying for a vaccination . Show your ID when you get there, and be done. If you DON'T show up though, your reservation gets sent to the back of line.

This really is good news ! Few more months , few more months ...

＠Kyodo

As of 10 a.m. Thursday, around 90 percent of the 70,000 slots at the Tokyo center between next Monday and June 27 were filled. At the Osaka center, however, around 20,000 of the 35,000 slots for the same period were still unfilled.

Osaka city started sending the voucher to people 64 and under starting yesterday. Do not know for other cities&co in the area. Seems Himeji already send some, for other... Feel free to update your article.

Also,I read that AstraZeneca has failed late-stage trial and does not prevent Covid infection.

Did a quick search. AZD7442 has not proven effective in late stage trials. That’s a different treatment to their vaccine AZD1222 which has proven effective (although not to the extent of Pfizer or Moderna) and is currently used in many countries around the world.

Taro Kono, the minister in charge of the country's vaccination efforts, said Thursday the government may achieve this week its target of administering 1 million shots per day. 

At this rate..........................................

This is an old timey medicine show.

These high-profile centers won't exist at scale outside of a few token, high-profile sites in Tokyo and Osaka for quite some time.

This is a joke. I decided to go to my local vaccination location yesterday after that message. However, I was turned away because I didn't have some kind of card they requested and no appointment. I tried to explain that I was available to get vaccinated, but still got turned away. If this is Suga's way of getting people vaccinated, then forget it. In the US, you don't need an appointment or a "stinkin'" card to get the shot.

I got my first one yesterday from my company, it was extremely fast and efficient without coupons or any of that nonsense. From registration to the injection was

Excellent explanation. Thank you. So for 14 June, we would have 214,965 + 665,241 = 880,206. And this total might be adjusted upward as numbers continue to roll in.

Yes, that is exactly the case. I have not analysed the files far enough to tell what the adjustment will likely look like though. I've started downloading the Excel every day now (it will be some time until I have enough data though; I really should have done that from the first day) and will have a closer look concerning the adjustments when I have the time to. Just a little note for 14 June though. Since it was a Monday, the 214,965 for medical workers includes the doses for Saturday and Sunday. For medical staff they only provide daily numbers from weekdays and the doses on weekends or holidays are added to the next weekday.

Booked mine, straight forward, NO problem, I hope you all do the same so we can all get back to normal, and hopefully have a normal Christmas.

ConfusiusToday  07:35 pm JST

Reuters uses data from NHK and the MHLW, and this morning’s update had the 7-day average at nearly 900,000, so the poster’s claim that Japan is now tracking at over 1M per day is likely accurate

No, so far around 900,000 has been the highest going by the official numbers released(https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/headline/kansensho/vaccine.html). 

Doesn’t the link you provide clearly show 16 June’s increase over the previous day as ＋118,735 medical personnel and ＋1,161,201  others?

I believe that there are some, who are more immune to such infections more than others.

We need to study those individuals more to understand why.

I, am one of those individuals. I have never had a flu jab, never taken inoculations, and I never get sick...

Let those who need to have them, receive the inoculations. And based upon my history and personal belief, I wish to let others jump the queue in front of me. That's my bit, for humanity. I don't suggest you follow my example, other than to do what you feel is right.

Marcus ClarkeJune 17  08:00 pm JST

Small clinics don't have the special fridges that are required to keep the temp. at -80 or what ever it is.

Moderna can be kept at regular refrigerator temps. 36 degrees or so Fahrenheit.

I have no coupon yet. Also,I read that AstraZeneca has failed late-stage trial and does not prevent Covid infection.

@noriahojanen Thanks for the link. Interesting to compare this with the US VAERS data.

@mmwkdm I think 2hat you are alluding to is the body's innate immune response which, unlike the adaptive immune response (responsible for producing antibodies), we don't yet know how to train, although some people are researching whether this might be possible.

didouToday  06:24 pm JST

Vaccinations tracking at over 1M per day now, and if anything looks like it could be ramped up even further.

No

Max has been around 800,000 a day ( source NHK)

9.27%

Reuters uses data from NHK and the MHLW, and this morning’s update had the 7-day average at nearly 900,000, so the poster’s claim that Japan is now tracking at over 1M per day is likely accurate.

https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/japan/

"We'd like to go to many places without wearing masks."

Then take your mask off...

Vaccinations tracking at over 1M per day now, and if anything looks like it could be ramped up even further.

People on this site laughed at me when I said that 50m doses would be administered by the Olympics, however at 26.3M now, maybe I was being too conservative.