LetsGoJapan comments

Seems a little late for restrictions seeing that the infection is already spreading very quickly. Let's be honest, with or without the military involvement, omicron was always going to spread throughout Japan given that the economy can't be shutdown and there are still means of international travel despite tighter government restrictions.

As the saying goes, "It's a matter of when, not if."

Omicron is everywhere. Its 70x more transmissible than Delta. The good news is that its way more mild than Delta and if you actually get Omicron you are immune from Delta!

There are only 3 people with severe illness with Covid in the entire city of nearly 14 000 000 densely packed people. That tells you all you need to know. After 2 years of this.

Infections are only just beginning in Tokyo and will continue to increase exponentially until we hit our peak. It's also not necessarily true that because you get infected with omicron it will keep you immune from delta. It goes without saying that your antibodies decline over time.

3 people with severe illness may not be a problem now. And it's certainly good news that omicron is less severe than delta for average person. That said, it's much more infectious than delta, so the more people that are infected, the greater potential it has for causing severe illness among those that are most vulnerable, as well as giving birth to newer variants.

Omicron won't be the last variant and it appears we'll certainly have to deal with covid in multiple waves for the foreseeable future.

Natural vaccination with Omicron is a much better option than a booster!

This is false and not accurate.

As quoted from the CDC website as of Jan 5, 2022: "A systematic review and meta-analysis including data from three vaccine efficacy trials and four observational studies from the US, Israel, and the United Kingdom, found no significant difference in the overall level of protection provided by infection as compared with protection provided by vaccination; this included studies from both prior to and during the period in which Delta was the predominant variant [79]... A more recent analysis of data from a network of 187 hospitals in the United States found that, among more than 7,000 COVID-19–like illness hospitalizations whose prior infection or vaccination occurred 90–179 days beforehand, there was a 5.5 times higher odds of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among previously infected patients than among fully vaccinated patients [80] "

(Comparison of Infection- and Vaccine-induced Immune Responses, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/vaccine-induced-immunity.html#anchor_1635546906501)

The main reason vaccinating the mass population is good is because it reduces and prevents hospitalization. There are only so many doctors and nurses and it's critical for the economy that healthcare remains readily available for those that need it most.

I think many people here in the comments section overlook and misconstrue what wasn't mentioned here in this article which is that those funds will most likely be provisioned at a cost (repaid with interest). The IDA is known to be an institution that provides LOANS, which are expected to be repaid over time, and grants which are given out with no repayment given various conditions are met.

There's no denying that a portion of those funds may fall into the wrong hands... That said, these funds are usually portioned out over time and powerful nations often use them to further their influence and protect national interests. The reality is that Japan is reliant on foreign exports and foreign services, many of which are dependent on the health and stability of those poorer nations, so the government probably has their own reasons why they feel that money is best served elsewhere, rather than investing directly injecting it into Japan.