Japan to halt company applications for workplace vaccinations

Oh so now the gov't is at fault? Previously everyone else under the sun was to blame..

… most of the 50 million doses it expects to receive shipments of by September have already been allocated.

Impressive! Vaccine czar Kono said this week he estimates the workplace program could reach about 200,000 people per day.

Government does not want to look bad. Too late.

Hold on for a second, we've donated vaccines to several countries. So what's the excuse for "it will be unable to distribute doses quickly enough"? You'd think it was a bigger logistical operation to donate vaccines abroad than to distribute them in Japan. Day after day, excuse after excuse. So either they just drop it altogether or they do it right. Why does it always have to be something in between?

So why did they gift a few millions vaccines to Vietnam and Taiwan?

koiwaicoffeeToday  07:41 am JST

So why did they gift a few millions vaccines to … Taiwan?

Because the company that makes all of the world’s most sophisticated chips, and many of the simpler ones too, is in Taiwan.

The vaccines they donated were AstraZeneca, which while approved won’t be used here because of the very slight chance of danger. Unfortunately for Japan a huge part of the doses they secured were AstraZeneca.

So if you have not received the documents necessary to get the shot and made your reservations (or your workplace is included already) it is very unlikely you will receive any vaccine this year.

"Another step back or in the wrong direction!"

Read the article more closely:

"Kono said the government has hit its ceiling for how many doses of Moderna Inc's vaccine it can deliver to companies daily and most of the 50 million doses it expects to receive shipments of by September have already been allocated."

It is a good sign. It means that the government is working its way thru its existing stock of vaccines, which is good news, because vaccines are getting into people's arms instead of sitting in freezers.

> The Japanese government said Wednesday it is temporarily halting company applications for COVID-19 vaccinations at workplaces due to concerns it will be unable to distribute doses quickly enough.

Yeah...........no one saw that coming. What else do they have to do? Collect our taxes?

Another huge failure for Kono and this government. They slowed things down by insisting on a trial that was not necessary, stated by Kono himself. Then they decided to use these vouchers that still haven't been sent out. Then they threw up their hands and let companies and schools take over the vaccinations, and now they have run out of the vaccines. Failure!

@virusrex

So if you have not received the documents necessary to get the shot and made your reservations (or your workplace is included already) it is very unlikely you will receive any vaccine this year.

Hold on your horse. For now, the issue is with the management choice of Moderna supply. People can still get Pfizzer. There are still 6 months to go in the year.

Quite possibly, we will see a drop in vaccination number and some bottleneck but we will not be the first country and it is not like vaccine are appearing out of nowhere. I guess they wanted their PR with the curb going up fast and did not care about the flatening when they will run out of supply.

Depending of logistic, they could perhaps switch some big vaccination center to Pfizzer.

I'm just speechless...so what's the next plan? All of this "Planning, Considering, etc." will just stay in the drawing board.

Another step back or in the wrong direction!

How is getting all the doses they have available into people's arms ASAP rather than stockpiling them until they risk spoilage a step in the wrong direction?

Hold on for a second, we've donated vaccines to several countries. So what's the excuse for "it will be unable to distribute doses quickly enough"?

We gave the several countries the 2nd tier vaccines, because in political jargon, it means these are not good enough for us, but if you want them for free, and cover the shipping we will send them to you.

Glad to see my political science minor pays off after all of these years.

Why halt applications? Just add applications to a queue ffs. Isn't it more efficient to have companies pre-registered for when more vaccines become available?

This is actually a very good news ! People want the vaccine and that is already a big portion of the problem solved

What would this mean for those that received their first shot this week through this program? They won't get their second shot, or that would already be allocated I wonder...? It could be a complete mess if people were not able to get their second shot within the recommend timeframe.

Like I said before "they can't do basic math" how ignorant!

Why halt applications? Just add applications to a queue ffs. Isn't it more efficient to have companies pre-registered for when more vaccines become available?

If it's not written in the rule books, they won't do it. No common sense.

Seems they hit their targets earlier than expected, should be good.

Anyway why not continue with private vaccinations using pfizer vaccines?

Probably has to do with the freezers

In any case, really good to have run thru the 50M supply so fast.

So no more Moderna vax coming? Or delivery date just unsure

ahh...the old Let's do this-Let's not 2-step policies of the Japanese government....what a farce

Maxinyox: Second jab allocated.

There's a fixed supply of the vaccine (moderna) and everything has been allotted already so they can't accept anymore applications.

Still not clear?

Well I'm perfectly happy to get AstraZeneca vaccine.

What would this mean for those that received their first shot this week through this program? They won't get their second shot, or that would already be allocated I wonder...? It could be a complete mess if people were not able to get their second shot within the recommend timeframe.

As I understand when you get the first jab, the vaccination center will automatically schedule you for the second jab one month after.

So as theResident said, it's already allocated

This procedures maybe even life threatening in a certain sense, if the pressure among the employees is too big. For example, they offered quick Moderna vaccination at my wife’s workplace without waiting for the normal postcard invitation and application process, although that vaccine too is infamous for its 95% heavy allergy-like side effects and sometimes dangerous clotting especially with women under 60/65 of age. Luckily everyone (or most) of the employees denied the offer. But imagine all would have agreed and my wife set under pressure, dilemma and life threat? It really should be voluntarily and only given without pressure, anonymously so to say, at those public vaccination places.

Well I'm perfectly happy to get AstraZeneca vaccine.

Seems no plan at all to use astrazeneca here, unfortunately.

and Sven: Everyone? Most of? Really.

MM:

Government does not want to look bad. Too late.

Exactly. Slowing down the loss of face.

Kyodo did report yesterday that they are about to approve (yes, I know it technically HAS been approved here) AZ for the over 60's here. So, more doses to go round quite possibly.

Thanks @theResident,

Good to know

@Sven Asai

Are you sure you are not mistaking with Johnson and Johnson ?

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/coronavirus-vaccine-blood-clots

You understand that if company ended up getting involved, it is because the government could not handle it ?

@Sven Asai's post is just meandering nonsense. The minuscule risk of blood clots is more associated with AZ and J&J - and the allergic reactions that require medical intervention is something like 4 in 1 million shots with Moderna.

I very much doubt that 'most'of the employees in his wifes company have declined the shot. I am lucky enough to work for a company that is part of the same scheme using Moderna. i think we are all aware of vaccine hesitancy in Japan and that take up is about 70% - of which having done a quick straw poll in the office is about right.

All personal choice, that I understand, but lets not peddle mistruths or try to persuade people who are willing to be vaccinated to reverse their decision.

Next step : blaming other countries for not providing doses

The combination of AstraZeneca and Pfizer (or Moderna) is actually highly effective, and extremely low risk. The data on that is coming out now, but it will take months for that information to penetrate the thick walls (and heads) of the Japanese bureaucracy.

Welcome (back) to the club, Japan. Because of the ongoing shortage of vaccines, company doctors in Europe only get homeopathic numbers of doses...