Olympics now ended, Suga pinning his hopes on vaccinations

Getting people vaccinated should have been top priority for Suga, but the Olympics were more important than the health of the nation. If the vaccine rollout had been first priority, the Olympics would have been much more welcome and fans most likely could have attended to some extent.

So, he ignored the rapidly increasing cases of Covid while the olympics were on. Now that they are over he is going to turn his attention towards Covid. One thing at a time. Multitasking is not a thing in Japan.

We need free and easy test stations so people can check anytime.

At present no one, without heavy symptoms knows and therefore moving around and possibly spreading.

But no this gov wants to keep the numbers down, so it's always going to be a lose/lose situation.

But yeah let's close the beaches so those people can now gather in shopping malls.

The dumbest idea yet

The increase in infections It is not the fault of the government but of the stupid people who still do not follow the science and the prevention measures of contagions..

Isn't that the government?

Didn't they ignore the advice of the Japanese Doctors as well as many Doctors from abroad who urged them to cancel the Olympics?

If there are any *stupid people who still do not follow the science and the prevention measures of contagions** *it in fact is the government as they are STILL going to hold the Para Olympics even with this terrible surge.

The trains and train stations here are insane. If the government wants to stop the spread of the virus, then people shouldn't be crammed like sardines on the morning commute. It's idiotic.

Present Japan's PM has delusion that only vaccination can solve everything, had disrespected to expand PCR test, isolation and medical system.

Neighbouring Taiwan has been able to suppress even infection spreading of Delta variant despite lower vaccination rate than Japan.

If you don’t know how to do it, just watch how some other countries are connecting and communicating with their populace and copy that. Now is the worst possible time for expediency.

Agree this is also the problem here, total lack of leadership and consistent messaging. In the UK for example there is consistent presence of government advertising to remind people to take care and be responsible, to social distance, to get vaccinated etc. Here in contrast it feels to the people the government has abandoned them on this topic and so they just feel like 'why should i bother?'

Olympics now ended, 

We still have the Para Olympics....

the total has doubled in the past four months to exceed 1 million. Tokyo's daily caseloads tripled during the Games that ended Sunday. And as hospitals fill up, nearly 20,000 infected people are isolating at home, over 10 times more than a month ago.

Emphasis in the wrong place for months. Vaccines should have had top priority all along not the expensive ego driven Olympics. Hard to understand any logic here

And here I was told by our great leader that his first priority is taking care of Japanese residents & not the olympics - are you saying I was lied to? How can it happen..,. (Sarcasm!!!!)

Olympics now ended, Suga pinning his hopes on vaccinations

The way a truly responsible govt. would've handled it would've been, "Suga pinning his hopes on vaccinations, with Olympics coming up this summer."

The crucial period was between Feb to May when hardly any of the vaccine was being given out at only about 2% of the population.

The feeling of a race against time was conspicuously absent and now has turned deadly. Big, big mistake.

What really makes me angry is that we keep hearing about how well the vaccinations are going, but almost everyone I know still hasn't received one or both shots, or their coupons, or can't get an appointment. And where is Taro Kono during this time? I want to see him everyday give a press conference about the vaccines, where they are how to get them and then his apologizing for failing at his job. He only shows his smug face when he finds a chart or graph that seems to make Japan look good at vaccinating people, when in fact they are doing a piss poor job!

Giving priority to the games instead of vaccinations have a cost in lives, reversing course by now its extremely late, just hope not too late to prevent a realistic worst case scenario of suddenly climbing deaths.

With the ongoing surge accelerated by the delta strain, it is extremely difficult to deal with the infections just by promoting the vaccines," Kono told a recent online program. He noted that young adults in their 20s and 30s account for about half of daily cases and urged them to stick to social distancing, mask wearing and handwashing.

Have said this before, but ‘urging’ these simple measures alone will never be enough. We have been urging people to learn English, have healthy lifestyles, treat each other kindly , ========== etc ( fill in the blank ) , but we all know it’s the message and the connection that will convince people to a) first even listen and then b) if you are really good actually act.

If Kono really wants to do his job, make a half an hour visually compelling vlog that connects to the demographic he is trying to urge. Set it all out, the reasons, the whys, the what happens if we don’t, the data, the examples from abroad the rally cry to the nation. If you don’t know how to do it, just watch how some other countries are connecting and communicating with their populace and copy that. Now is the worst possible time for expediency.

This minimalistic approach to communicating that Japanese leaders think they can get away with just looks to me like they aren't really trying. If they try and scapegoat you youth that will be evidence that they aren’t, or simply can’t?

Are we seeing the product of a broken education system coming home to roost?

No policies, doesn’t listen to the public, doesn’t want to help normal people by giving some money like Abe did-the guy will definitely keep his job at the election..

Suga's political future, not to mention the health of tens of thousands.

The health of tens of thousands has been shown to be of little concern to Suga and his LDP mates,

Suga etal were probably first in queue for vaccinations. They and their families probably have never had to fret about available hospital beds and adequate healthcare.

Olympics are not over why does everyone keep forgetting about the Paralympics?

The writing was on the wall when Jakarta went through hell, but instead Suga and cronies focused solely on the Olympics. Now they really don't know what to do because people are not adhering to the SOE protocols which are a carryover from the battle against last year's variant. So while Suga, Hashimoto and others were kowtowing to Bach, 'rona was in the gym pumping iron. Payback is a b..ch.

Suga also said on TV last night that it is shown in the world that lockdowns don't work before he went on his vaccines are the solution and what a great job Japan has done with the vaccinations. This is his last stand for political survival. if it fails the LDP will simply sacrifice him as the scapegoat and appoint a new puppet in his place and win conformably with a new or recycled face.

BTW his promise to vaccinate ALL elderly people by the end of July has "mostly" been achieved. What does that mean? A nice way to say it simply has NOT been achieved! I should remember that next time I make a promise that I dont keep.

The title of the article translates as “we have now forced through the dangerous super spreader event, now let’s hope and pray the vaccine will sort out the mess we created”. Fascinating country Japan!

I'm not drawing any conclusions, but after weeks of failed attempts to book a shot, I suddenly caught a break yesterday and found a local centre. You have to book both shots at once, the second three weeks after the first, which at least implies that they feel that they have enough vaccine to do that.

I'm not counting any chickens until they hatch (i.e. I wouldn't be surprised to get an email saying "sorry, your slot has been given to the friend of a local politician"), but maybe, just maybe, with the white elephant olympics out of the way and the Paraolympics yet to start, the government has had a few moments to get their act together and actually think about their own subjects for a few minutes.

That doesn't mean that I'd go out and vote LDP if I had the right to vote. They're still pretty darn useless.

"Fully vaccinated" means 3 weeks between shots plus 2 to 3 weeks to build immunity after the second shot, or 6 weeks total. So fully vaccinated by late October means everyone getting their first shot by mid-September at the latest, one month from now. About 20% of the population is fully vaccinated now, to get that up to 80% would mean covering about 60 million people. So every day for the next 30 days first shots will need to be administered to 2 million people.

Andy - Some people are saying these vaccines do not stop infection or transmission and have no effect on Delta and the reduced symptoms after the jab is minor. Little wonder people are reluctant to get the jab.

This is mostly true. The Covid vaccine is similar to the flu vaccine. It will only lessen the effects and the lessen the strain on medical institutions as less people end up the ICU. It does not kill the virus. The spread of infections has to be controlled through distancing and isolating until the virus runs out of hosts. Vaccinations are not the silver bullet the world is banking on.

No policies, doesn’t listen to the public, doesn’t want to help normal people by giving some money like Abe did-the guy will definitely keep his job at the election..

Many a true word spoken in jest. Ever read "Straitjacket society"? Written by a US-trained psychologist who returned home to Japan to work as a diplomat and got the ultimate case of reverse culture shock. Upon starting his new post, he was told the three cardinal rules: don't be late, don't take any holiday, and don't change anything.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pinning his hopes on vaccinations, which started slow but now are making good progress. 

Our city office opened up the vaccination for 50 to 59 age group this week. My brother-in-law tried to get an appointment and was told they is no vaccine available at this time.

You can see from the info published by the city office, the weekly vaccinations for the elderly, health workers are slowing down dramatically.

Officials expect the vaccination pace will slow when young adults get their turn because of their reluctance to get jabs, in part because of false rumors about side effects. Many of them also think they are less likely to develop serious symptoms.

This is a sheer terrible lie, for many Japanese younger people CANNOT get a jab even if they desire. Some have yet to receive the vax card while others are struggling for appointment only to get in a long waiting queue. Don't try to rationalize the vax supply shortage and procedural clumsiness with hesitancy theory.

By the coming winter vax supply may run short or global procurement is likely to become further intensified as more countries are seeking an extra booster shot. We should be careful to see whether vax hesitancy theory is real or made up to hide the government failure.

Lots of abuse towards Mr Suga who has done an admirable job in difficult circumstances.

His approval rating suggests otherwise, but I'm sure he's relieved that you think he's wonderful and is looking forward to receiving your vote.

Sorry, make that bureaucrat, not diplomat.

He pins his hopes but the people don't pin their hopes on him.

However, as long as we can blame the Olympics, we won't have the question our own behavior.

No, I think that's a fair point. You can't blame the Olympics entirely for the spike.

You can of course blame them for incredibly poor choices: a musician who boasted about being a psycho and terrorising a disabled student, a man who made jokes about the holocaust, several displays of gargantuan incompetence, and so on.

But those don't result in cases or dead people so I guess we can ignore them.

I'm watching a J League on TV right now, Sapporo vs FC Tokyo.

Stadium is full of fans.

Are we in an SOE or not?

Until we stop this hypocrisy, we are doomed to fail time and time again to control each new variant.

Perhaps they know something everyone who doesn't shut their eyes and close their hears is beginning to understand. These vaccines aren't good! It may prove useful in the future but as of now, mRNA is a failed technology.

Repeating your personal belief that can be easily proved false do not make it less mistaken, the medical community contradicts you, and it is easy to see which side to listen here.

They are protecting your wife, not you.

Exposing someone to a much higher risk is the opposite of protecting.

Exactly, this is just another pro-pharma propaganda piece from AP.

Vaccine side effects are real, including death and other serious side effects

Except that every time that someone ask you to prove this with evidence your answer is to misrepresent the reports of VAERS as if they were confirmed things related with the vaccine, which they are not.

If your idea of "side effects are real" means repeating disinformation then those are exactly the kind of false rumors about side effects that should be discarded from the conversation.

 "...in part because of false rumors about side effects." 

Needle phobia is another factor, which gets very little coverage. Being a boomer, I was jabbed with all sorts of needles as a kid, (which has kept me healthy and happy all my life), but it seems that today's youth is a lot more squeamish and spoiled than us.

I wanted to offer my two vaccine slots to my wife who is diabetic. They said no. So much for the database of those in dire need.

Olympics are not over why does everyone keep forgetting about the Paralympics?

Because, compared to the regular games, very few people care about the paralympics.

I'm not saying that the paralympics are worth less than the regular games (personally I couldn't care less about either), but there's likely a "poor cousin" perception of the paralympics due to a bias, either conscious or subconscious, against the disabled (I don't know what the official description is these days...when I was a kid, there was a charity shop in the UK called "The Spastics Society", and now using that word is almost like using the n-word to talk about black people). Anyway, you get my point. I'd say that, all the platitudes notwithstanding, the main olympics are a chance for most people to brandish their inferiority complex towards the athletes, and the paralympics are a chance for those same people to make a big show of how tolerant and progressive they are.

Call me a cynic.

just hope not too late to prevent a realistic worst case scenario of suddenly climbing deaths.

A worst-case scenario is playing out before our eyes because of a lack of leadership.

I can't believe the nerve of this guy. The Paralympics are about to start soon and he wants to think about the vaccinations now? How about waiting till after those games are finished? How selfish!

I pin my hopes on that he is quickly replaced before the disaster is completed.

Packed trains

Office work when not needed

Packed bars and shopping malls

Baseball, sumo and other events with fans

Slow vaccine rollout

Inconsistent quarantine requirements

Unclear SOE's

However, as long as we can blame the Olympics, we won't have the question our own behavior.

I have friends and relatives who have both diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure that received the vaccine. They are vulnerable and must take it. I know someone who had cancer and diabetes and Hugh Lois pressure and took it back in January. Now waiting fir boosters. My other friend just had cancer and is diabetic - doing well with vaccine. They are vulnerable so it was a must and took the jab.

NOW that the olympics are over, he can start the vaccines……..what is he? 6?

One track minded buffoon.

The cases of COVID related to the Olympics were only a few hundred, nothing to be alarmed,

Japan has continued the vaccination at the same time with the Olympics and is in 5th place as the country with the highest vaccination rate, below China, US, India and Brazil.

The increase in infections It is not the fault of the government but of the stupid people who still do not follow the science and the prevention measures of contagions..

Little by little things will improve, everyone to get vaccinated.

Japan has world-beating capacity in fudging figures. If you don't collect the data, there is no evidence of your incompetence. They defined Olympic related infections in terms of a mythical bubble, which didn't exist. In reality, the Olympics involved the mixing of hundreds of thousands of people - policy, security, drivers, volunteers, cleaners, caterers, marshalls and other Olympic staff, as well as domestic and foreign media, domestic and foreign athletes, domestic and foreign health workers, curious bystanders outside Olympic venues... The bubble only applied to the incoming athletes and their entourages. Infections in all the other groups, where they have been picked up because of symptomatic infection, were absorbed into local figures - all over the country for the training camps, in Tokyo/Kanagawa/Chiba/Saitama for those staying outside the bubble. So we will never know the true figures, only notice that strangely, infections tripled during the course of the Olympics.

You missed a zero off the vaccination rate - Japan is currently 50th. Singapore is 5th.

The government has given mixed messaging and poor leadership, allowing the rich and mighty to do what they want, in front of the cameras, while telling the rest of us bars bad, trains good. Little wonder people become cynical and rebellious.

So things got worse in leaps and bounds, but they will improve little by little? That crystal ball of yours sure is impressive - can I have a shufty?

To start with, they were saying in March and April how we were fighting the virus and how we were better off than the rest of the world. Also, to keep the infection numbers low ahead of the Olympics, there were far fewer tests than in other countries. Although many people pointed out that this was the wrong approach and would not solve anything. However, the gerontocrats in government weren't listening and the LDP propaganda was going full bore. Just before the Olympics, there were already virtually identical COPY+PASTE propaganda outpourings in the debates about how Japan was winning.

Then came the Olympics and it came down to the exact predictions of the few rational thinking realists.

And now? The Paralympics are upon us, only hardly anyone here cares about that. Because "these people are sick and disabled" is the belief of a large part of the citizens here.

But the question is, what happens next? Ten years ago, Japan put everything on one card, and that was the Olympics. For 10 years afterwards, all the attention was focused on the Olympics. Few have asked themselves what will happen next. What is Japan's long-term strategy. It still doesn't seem to have one. And that it's day to day. It's almost reminiscent of the socialist five-year plan.

He should hope not to be elected again and go back on his strawberry fields.

The worth „politican“ ever all over the world!

Not fit for the job, get rid of him

Universal lockdowns have failed. See California and New York.

highest infections per capita in the US over the entire pandemic are the states that have banned masks and any type of quarantines or lockdowns, and high percentage of antivaxxers

let you guess which states they are. and theyre nearly all higher than CA NY, and this is as of August 2021 while a vaccine is available. Once again the science make fools of the ignorant

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109004/coronavirus-covid19-cases-rate-us-americans-by-state/

Foreigner In TokyoToday  03:47 pm JST

And I have seen comments around the internet that "the Paralympics should be canceled due to the virus". Sorry, but how is that fair? If one should be canceled, then both should have been. If one was irresponsibly held, then the other should be as well.

When does being fair ever trump being safe?

The Paralympics will be held, but a strong argument against could be made, emphasizing that COVID-19 conditions are far worse 10 days prior to the opening of the Paralympics than conditions were 10 days before the start of the Olympic Games.

"How this race between shots and disease finishes may determine Suga's political future".

Who cares about his political future? We are talking about peoples' lives and and long-term health and welfare here.

Every decision he has made so far has been made to preserve himself and to win the next election, not to take care of the health and welfare of the people he has the ultimate responsibility for.

"Olympics now ended, Suga pinning his hopes on vaccinations." Talk about puting the horse before the cart. The health of Japan's citizens and residents should have been Suga's first priority.

KevinMcgueToday  09:11 am JST

About 20% of the population is fully vaccinated now, to get that up to 80% would mean covering about 60 million people. So every day for the next 30 days first shots will need to be administered to 2 million people.

I wonder what the numbers would show if you started with 37% of the population being fully vaccinated and eliminated the segment of the population that can’t currently get vaccinated (children under 12)?

About 12% of Japan’s population is under the age of 15 (numbers for the under-12 age group are hard to get because Japan stats generally uses the 0-14 category) so to vaccinate 80% of the entire population without vaccinating those under 15 would require vaccinating all but 8% of everyone over the age of 14. I think Japan will have a whole lot more holdouts than 8%, don’t you?

Finally, the government has targeted vaccinating all residents wishing to be vaccinated not by October but by November (which includes November).

I want to get vaccinated asap. In the meantime I will wear two masks and practice social distancing. I avoid going to bars and restaurants and when I have to go to the supermarket, I always wear a face shield. I'm such a good girl.

LovecraftingToday 08:55 am JST

...... is in 5th place as the country with the highest vaccination rate,

If he compared Japan to the neighborhood that may be kinda true, but on a global scale Japan apparently ranks 14. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

Um since when does the world only has 37 countries? Next time make sure to scroll down or hit the "table" button but even doing that doesn't show all countries ... and no, not 14th place ... more like 70+

As long as bureaucrats are running the show things will remain a mess.

Remember a large part of the Vaccination done up to now was done by corporations given millions of doses of Moderna and they did it faster more efficiently than the government.

I just got my second dose yesterday.

The level of stupidity is beyond comprehension.

I used 2 different Vaccination centres run by the ward.

In both places one enters on the ground floor then they make everyone take the elevator to the 3rd floor.

So no social distancing cram people into the elevator.

I insisted on taking the stairs and they got upset sayin the statue are closed ( I did it anyway.

If the person running the Vaccination centres cannot even grasp the concept of social distancing there really is no hope.

Love his priorities - money first; save lives after.

J Gov: Require experimental vaccines to undergow more stringent trials than any other nation, thus delaying rollout.

JT commenters: WHY DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT US?!?

JT commenters: WHY DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT US?!?

We are not a monolithic group. Everyone cares about different things. You're a JT poster too. So JT posters DO care about this.

Oh yeah, man. That's right now. Everybody made their moolah and now since more people in japan got sick it's time to get on the ball.

PM Suga, whatchoo gonna do about it now? You screwed up, Bubba!

Suga flubbed up bigtime and by being a Sukkup to the IOC he made the danger of 'superspreding' even greater, and more people are getting sick every day.

He needs to get his ass in gear, then again it might be too late to matter. He oughta just resign and let someone more diligent handle the reins.

“Officials expect the vaccination pace will slow when young adults get their turn because of their reluctance to get jabs, in part because of false rumors about side effects”- horrible reporting ‘false rumors’.

Readers who live close enough to central Tokyo, if you are having trouble finding an appointment to get a vaccine, there is plenty of availability every day for free vaccination with Moderna vaccine at the Clinic For Tamachi, located in the building right at the Shibaura Exit of JR Tamachi Station. Just bring your city or ward issued ticket or voucher, and completed questionnaire For myself, I used the Shinjuku Home Clinic located near Yotsuya-3-chome Station, 20 min walk from JR Yotsuya Stn. Online calendar nit back up yet -- call 03 6273 2109 -- the doctor said he's expecting more doses soon. It's a tiny 1-doctor clinic. Private clinics accept tickets from any city or ward. Get vaccinated soon. Don't delay.

Olympics are not over why does everyone keep forgetting about the Paralympics?

Point well made. The Paralympics are just as important and significant as the Olympics or any other world competition.

Olympics now ended, Suga pinning his hopes on vaccinations

Good luck with that one, Suga. I'm sure he's finished and won't be re-elected.

One HEPA air purifier is more effective than 100000 manhours of handwashing. This virus is airborne-only, spreads as aerosol, why is useless handwashing still promoted as a measure?

Problem is, most people don't abide by the social distance rules and hygienic measures.

The middle aged ladies in the gym are still chatting, gossipping like they used to despite the signs posted asking members to refrain from doing so.

The gym staff did nothing to stop them. And the gym is under Nippon TV's management.

How will the pandemic subside?

Perhaps they know something everyone who doesn't shut their eyes and close their hears is beginning to understand

There's that word 'everyone' used again. All or nothing, typical approach of absolutists, and extremists.

Russia, China campaigns seek to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines: EU report

https://globalnews.ca/news/7816859/russia-china-coronavirus-vaccine-misinformation/

Yes, we must go on with the vaccination

My 18 year old daughter has just had her second jab here in the UK. She will be coming to Japan for her gap year in September. Will she be the only double - jabbed 18 year old in Japan? Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to my booster jab in the autumn. (For comparison)

Which vaccination to take ?

Recent studies are showing Astra-Zentica is actually more effective against the Delta variant than the others ? But what of the new Lambda variant brought into the Country by an Olympic participant ?

Interestingly there's research going on into other drugs to treat COVID, and one of those is an Anti-Malarial drug... mefloquine  a derivative of hydrochloroquine.

Holding the Olympics before everyone in Japan is vaccinated fail.

Not allowing pharmacists to do Covid vaccinations fail.

Seems like Suga has just failed in regards to this issue hopefully there will be an alternative party to challenge him at the next election.

So JT posters DO care about this.

Sorry if it wasn't clear. It was a commentary on how many people in these comment sections criticize the Japanese government of inaction on covid. While the Japanese government has arguably exercised the most restraint and measured response the world over. They're just a bunch of old bureaucrats who have no clue about the world but they somehow are managing to scrape by regardless of the amount of general mass psychosis going on.

expatAug. 14 10:57 am JST

Says the doctor... In answer to raw beer.

You must be a doctor then. The side effects of deaths and permanent damages to the body are real and can be found on official medical data bases around the world, although the numbers are under reported. take your shot and if you are lucky, yours will be a placebo shot and then you can tell everyone that there is nothing wrong with the jab.

No more games, he's not messin around here. Oh pretty please… With suger on top!

Plus Suga, along with participating businesses, are giving out ‘plenty of swag, travel, drinking & dining discounts’ exclusively to the fully vaccinated. - Here are some of the Japanese businesses offering discounts to fully vaccinated customers:

https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/here-are-some-of-the-japanese-businesses-offering-discounts-to-fully-vaccinated-customers#comment-2567745 -

What a bunch of lies. The national government have zero intentions for vaccinating more people. They continue to restrict access and sabotage distribution. People not in tier 1 companies or wealthy neighborhoods could not make vaccine appointments and likely will not be able to until at least next year. The national government is only interested in vaccinating as few people as possible to preserve market for domestic vaccines next year.

Not defending the bungling, but I just recently - finally - managed to get a booking and I'm in Shinjuku. I looked up the average income by ward in Tokyo and Shinjuku was 9th. Not poor by any means, but certainly not among the wealthiest.

Lots of abuse towards Mr Suga who has done an admirable job in difficult circumstances.

He oversaw a successful and safe games and is steering us away from Covid times. It’s a hard job but he’s done fantastic. No lockdowns needed, no draconian laws and we don’t see an incredibly high death toll.

what a poor excuse to change the constitution. Luckily, people are so stupid, it might just work, despite lockdowns not working anywhere at anytime. Idiocracy…

What a bunch of lies. The national government have zero intentions for vaccinating more people. They continue to restrict access and sabotage distribution. People not in tier 1 companies or wealthy neighborhoods could not make vaccine appointments and likely will not be able to until at least next year. The national government is only interested in vaccinating as few people as possible to preserve market for domestic vaccines next year.

Some people are saying these vaccines do not stop infection or transmission and have no effect on Delta and the reduced symptoms after the jab is minor. Little wonder people are reluctant to get the jab.

The national government have zero intentions for vaccinating more people. They continue to restrict access and sabotage distribution.

Perhaps they know something everyone who doesn't shut their eyes and close their hears is beginning to understand. These vaccines aren't good! It may prove useful in the future but as of now, mRNA is a failed technology.

in part because of false rumors about side effects.

Calling side effects "false rumors" isn't going to help your credibility.

People see through the obvious media bias and that just makes them more suspicious.

Exactly, this is just another pro-pharma propaganda piece from AP.

Vaccine side effects are real, including death and other serious side effects.

I wanted to offer my two vaccine slots to my wife who is diabetic. They said no. So much for the database of those in dire need.

They are protecting your wife, not you.

Lots of abuse directed at Mr Suga at present now that Mr Bach has stopped being the bogeyman. The government has worked hard to keep things open as much as possible. The damage due to lack of foreign visitors has been great.

The government is hoping tourism restarts next Spring or Summer to revitalize the economy. Let’s all hope their target is met.

Universal lockdowns have failed. See California and New York.

Focus squarely on the vulnerable. Vaccinate them and, if necessary, quarantine them. Breakthrough cases- vaccinated people catching delta and getting sick- are a threat.

Science, if we still believe it, says quarantine the sick and vulnerable, not healthy people.

I actually don't think we need a lockdown, we just need enforced social distancing in starbucks, malls, supermarkets, and enforced government coordinated quotas for remote working. And targeted actions such as closing shibuya and shinjuku train stations mid day, evenings and weekends to reduce shoppers. The framework for this is what they should have been setting up the past year. Along with improving the medical system.

almosthat

Good to see your daughter is coming to Japan for a better lifestyle, pretty grim in the UK. Shame she has to have vaccines at her young age to enter. Good luck to her in Japan.

Stefan

Mr Suga is not running in a popularity contest, he is making sure to take care of the public’s health and the economy at the same time. It’s a difficult balancing act and we are in capable hands.

My partners brother knows him personally from his job in the government and says he works tirelessly seven days a week.

I would like to see those criticizing him daily and making rude comments do a better job.