TOKYO – Japan launches coronavirus vaccination campaign on Wednesday, months after other major economies began firing and amid questions about whether the unit would reach enough people quickly enough to save a summer Olympics already delayed by the pandemic.
Despite a recent rise in infections, Japan has largely dodged the kind of cataclysm that has hit the economies, social networks and health systems of other rich countries. But the fate of the Olympics and the billions of dollars at stake make Japan’s vaccine campaign crucial. Japanese officials are also well aware that China’s rival, which has been successful in defeating the virus, will host the Winter Olympics next year, boosting the desire to make the Tokyo Games a reality.
Concern about the shortage of vaccines imported into Japan is pending the deployment of vaccines, which will go first to medical workers, then to the elderly and vulnerable, and then, possibly in late spring or early summer, to the rest. of the population. it depends on many reluctances to take vaccines among many Japanese due to fear of rare side effects.
While medical workers say vaccinations will help protect them and their families, and business leaders hope the momentum will allow economic activity to return to normal, late deployment will make it impossible to reach ‘called herd immunity before the start of the Olympics in July, according to experts. to say.
This will leave officials struggling to stifle widespread prudence (and even direct opposition) among citizens to organize the Games. Approximately 80% of respondents in recent media polls support the cancellation or subsequent postponement of the Olympic Games.
Despite this, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and others in his government continue to advance in the Olympic plans, considering the Games a “test of human victory against the pandemic.”
Japan has not seen the massive outbreaks that have affected the United States and many European countries, but the rise in cases in December and January raised concerns and sparked a state of partial emergency that includes requests for early restaurant closures. and bars. Suga has seen his support plummet below 40% from about 70% when he took office in September, and many people said he was too slow to impose restrictions and too lax.
The country now sees an average of about 1 infection per 100,000 people, compared to 24.5 in the United States or 18 in the United Kingdom. Overall, Japan has recorded about 420,000 cases and 7,000 deaths, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Japan’s late authorization for the vaccine means it lags behind many other countries. Britain launched vaccinations on December 8 and has shot at least more than 15 million people, while the United States began its campaign on December 14 and some 40 million people have been shot. Vaccines were launched in many European Union countries at the end of December and the campaigns they have undergone have been criticized for being slower.
Japan lagged behind other places because it asked Pfizer to conduct clinical trials with Japanese, in addition to tests already conducted in six other countries. Japanese officials said it was necessary to address the concerns of a country with little confidence in the vaccine.
After the first line of medical workers will come inoculations of 3.7 million more health workers from March, followed by about 36 million people aged 65 and over from April. People with underlying health problems, as well as caregivers of nursing homes and other facilities, will be next, before the general population receives their turn.
Some critics have pointed out that the impetus for vaccination, which is to be carried out by medical workers, is added to their burden, as Japanese hospitals are already undergoing daily treatment of patients with COVID-19. There is an additional concern that hospitals will have no additional capacity to deal with the large number of foreign visitors that the Olympics would involve.