Japan to start COVID vaccinations at workplaces on June 21

Great to see. Now over 12 million doses, they will be over 50m by the Olympics for sure.

Another impotent attempt to show the rest of the world they’re finally doing something

I'm a bit confused by the timing, I thought they were aiming to finish the elderly population by the end of July, then move on to the rest of us, but this would indicate vaccinating everyone else will start on June 21st (before they've finished with the elderly)?

This was always going to be a good option. My company gets 1000+ people through the annual health screen per day including ECGs and X-rays.

They just need to use the usual medical staff (nurses and a Doctors) to administer it.

This whole “vaccine” drive is overblown. And the narrative and incentives behind it all should be scrutinized.

Workplace inoculations, travel restrictions, and probably next are our schools and our next-to-no risk children.

Vax fanaticism and unsubstantiated claims seem prolific.

https://youtu.be/Aw3AbbEYpi0?t=1121

My local free city office newspaper (west Tokyo suburb) was delivered today. On the back page is a list of hospitals and clinics where from June 7th those older than 65 can schedule the vaccine. There are 46 places!

They will be able to vaccinate 7,000 per day.... Those under 65 should start getting jabs by the end of August. Months behind many other countries but at least getting better.... at last!

Well, it only took a year and a half to do what many other countries had ready at the beginning of the pandemic.

Let's see, who's first on the list.

Oh, Dentsu.

Isn't that special!

Is this possible to vaccinate at work if 50 people in the office (Tokyo) live in 17 different municipalities?

If I understand, teleworkers will get the vaccination at their workplace, their home.

Allow?? I hope they Emergency response team at the sites just incase you go into super shock anaplyxis

It's one thing to criticise inaction and incompetence, but to ceaselessly keep reading negative comments on here when positive measures are finally been taken, says more about the rectitude of those who write them than that of those they rebuke.

Let's see, who's first on the list.

Oh, Dentsu.

Isn't that special!

If they want to be special guinea pigs.... Have an ERT there just incase of a medical emergency

According to Kato, companies and universities will be responsible for securing medical personnel to administer the vaccinations.

Am I missing something or has this been the main obstacle until now?I'm not sure most companies and universities have the resources to train personell to do that, let alone make them appear out of thin air.

@yotomaya

Am I missing something or has this been the main obstacle until now?I'm not sure most companies and universities have the resources to train personell to do that, let alone make them appear out of thin air.

Companies in Japan give an annual health check up to all staff and contract a private company to do it either on-site or offsite. These are separate from the general hospitals, usually have 1-2 doctors and a bunch of nurses and specialize only in screening. It will be these companies that are likely to be contracted again for workplace vaccination.

Makes sense, they are specialists in very high volume turnaround. My company does 40,000 medicals like this in a month.

The plan was announced a day after two state-run mass inoculation centers staffed by Self-Defense Forces personnel in Tokyo and Osaka started full operations. . .

Oh, great idea. Maybe another plan is in the mix.

How about giving vaccinations at train stations? Even the shinkansen---people are just sitting there for a few hours anywhere. Or at department stores? The airport is another obvious location. Or make Miyako Island a mass vaccination site and have domestic vax tours (funnel off some the GoTo money).

Just anticipating what Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato comes up with next.

Yes, they will just send vaccines to a couple of the well connected companies and then claim they have successfully "started". The rest of the companies without strong political connections can expect the vaccines maybe late 2022 if they are lucky.

government believes there is a prospect of completing the ongoing vaccination of those aged 65 or older ahead of the initial goal of the end of July.

Doesn't even make mathematical sense. I would be shocked if they even hit half that number by end of July.

Before getting yourself inoculated, you’d better remember that the vaccine makers are totally exempt from any damages or side effects that might be caused by these untested vaccines. The J gov has promised to pay compensation in case of death, but the burden of proof is on victims’s families. You’re a brave man if you still want to get a shot.

@RoccoL

That makes sense.

One mid sized company I worked for had their medical checks done at a nearby clinic, while a university where I've worked at has on-site medical staff. That could mean that either the companies will have to have the vaccines administered by medial staff on-site or clinics they already have contracts with.

This still places the burden on companies rather than the state, but better than nothing at this stage. I wonder what the deal is for part-timers and freelancers though.

virusrexToday  04:45 pm JST

Well, it only took a year and a half to do what many other countries had ready at the beginning of the pandemic.

Er, no. Nobody had these vaccines at the start of the pandemic. Only started a few months ago, and preparations only started a relatively short time before that.

klutzmanToday  04:54 pm JST

Let's see, who's first on the list.

Oh, Dentsu.

Isn't that special!

Must be a reward for mismanaging one of the greatest PR stuff-ups in recent years.

Er, no. Nobody had these vaccines at the start of the pandemic.

Obviusly not the vaccines but the mechanisms to expedite development, testing and distribution, which is what the article is talking about, you should read it. Other countries did not have to wait until the pandemic began to have ready a way to let companies cut the red tape and dedicate the time to put in order vaccines in a safe way.

tomlives  said

It's one thing to criticise inaction and incompetence, but to ceaselessly keep reading negative comments on here when positive measures are finally been taken, says more about the rectitude of those who write them than that of those they rebuke.

Seconded. Japan seems to attract some incredibly bitter people who refuse to see the good in anything Japan does. I’m always ready to bash when doing so is justified, but the level of negativity here is astounding.

Great to see. Now over 12 million doses, they will be over 50m by the Olympics for sure.

even if 30M a+ from me. ganbare nippon. Once the 65+ is done we can go back to counting money instead of infections.

The speed of the roll out of the vaccine has been pitifully slow in Japan even with this new effort. In the UK, for example, 70% have had their first jab, and nearly 40% have had their second jab. The Olympics are here soon, but Japan is miles behind in its vaccinations. Moreover, the vast majority do not want these Games.

Er, no. Nobody had these vaccines at the start of the pandemic. Only started a few months ago, and preparations only started a relatively short time before that.

The technology for the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines (those made by Pfizer and Moderna) started in the early 1990s, with initial research focusing on rabies, Zika, and cytomegalovirus. The adenoviral vector technology dates back to the 1970s.

And about my earlier jovial remark about giving vaccines at the train stations here--just came across an article where they are really doing just that at Coney Island Station in Brooklyn, NY.

Yes, as I said yesterday, I think some one must have turned on the lights at the health ministry.

Still just a lot of talk.

Still waiting for the vaccinations.

Still living in March 2020.

Great news. Earlier than June 21 would be even better.

LOL I can't believe it I said this at as a joke "Perhaps japan could give out vaccines at 7-11 or Lawson's. Giving vaccines at work places will include these companies. The government earlier Tuesday crafted a long-term national strategy on vaccine development. Go to Mc Donalds and you can get a Happy Meal along with a Covid shot!!! LOL

According to Kato, companies and universities will be responsible for securing medical personnel to administer the vaccinations. 

The Government isn’t and won’t be held accountable for slow inoculation. The Government is just finding ways to find more scapegoats for their incompetence, these oyajis are so pathetic.

This should be interesting, as a company I know which has a company nurse who said she cant do vaccinations as she hasn't touched a syringe in 10 years...

The mass vaccination center being operated by the Ground Self Defense Force in Otemachi is very efficient and easy to make a reservation online. The computer doesn't even ask your name -- just date of birth -- plus the numbers that appear on the vouchers mailed out by local governments. It's 3 minutes on foot from the Chiyoda Line Otemachi station. Anyone who isn't satisfied with the clumsy efforts being made in their own locality should consider making the trip. To access online, just type in 防衛省 and the window for reservations appears at the upper left.

Lol an informative and useful post! What a lucky night.

Thanks @NCIS reruns.

They aren't thinking through all the logistics so it won't be June

Pass.

Japan - firing on all cylinders (or is that fuel cells?). Nice. There will be issues, but those will get solved.

Good to see Japan bringing everyone into solving the shot-in-arm problem, if a few months later than we'd like. OTOH, vaccine availability at the levels needed may not have been known until a few weeks ago - so they had a few weeks of meetings about that.

What's so special about June 21?

It will allow companies 1 weeks of 2-a-day meetings to decide how to do this and 1 week to run 5 practice attempts? J-Corporate loves their meetings. I can't remember any workday there where I wasn't required in at least 2 management meetings.

In the next 3 weeks, they'll get most of the older people vaccinated (with at least 1 shot) and they will get the supply channels fully debugged, increasing.

With the mRNA shots, the first provided something like 80% effective protection and the 2nd one adds an additional 15%, 95% total. Plus, almost nobody who has gotten a shot needs hospitalization 2 weeks later, even if they get exposed and have symptoms or not. There are deaths, but those appear to be due to other complications. It is just standard practice to run a COVID test on all dead people now. The US has over 100M people vaccinated,

Among 10,262 cases (post-vaccination), 995 were hospitalized and 289 people (29 percent) had asymptomatic COVID-19 infections

So, of 100M vaccinated, about 0.010% are being hospitalized for COVID. That's 99.990% effective protection. Amazing.

On 12-17 yr olds, the Moderna vaccine provided 100% effective protection: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/moderna-says-vaccine-highly-effective-in-kids-12-17-seeks-fda-authorization/

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/05/covid-cases-after-vaccination-are-still-very-rare-variants-arent-changing-that/

Among approximately 101 million vaccinated people in the US as of April 30, the CDC collected reports of 10,262 breakthrough cases from 46 states and territories. That works out to about 0.01% breakthrough cases among the fully vaccinated.

And recent studies are showing that the vaccines are lasting longer than previously believed, at least for the mRNA vaccines. For people who catch COVID and are vaccinated, it seems to be lifetime protection. The studies aren't showing how long protection will last for people who never get the virus, but more studies are supposed to be released soon about that.

I hope it doesn't turn out to be like some bad SciFi film, where the inoculated population gets told that the vast majority of the recipients will live beyond a year, and that the rest had been selected to die in order to save the greatly overpopulated planet which can no longer support us all.

Which workplaces? Pediatric cardiovascular surgery centers? Might be a place to start if you can squeeze 'em in in 2021.

Japan will start COVID-19 vaccinations at workplaces and universities on June 21 to speed up the pace of the country's sluggish vaccine rollout,

Is it me, or does Japan actually have to have a vaccine rollout in order for it to be called sluggish?

According to Kato, companies and universities will be responsible for securing medical personnel to administer the vaccinations.

I can help Chief Whatever Kato with that--just trawl the Olympic sites and offer slightly higher wages.