A syringe with a dose of the coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19) is shown at Komagome Hospital of the Tokyo Metropolitan Center for Cancer and Infectious Diseases in Tokyo, Japan, on March 5, 2021. Yoshikazu Tsuno / Pool via REUTERS
Japan’s COVID-19 glacial inoculation boost makes some foreign residents consider flying to other countries to get vaccinated, as the pandemic escalates again with no shots in sight of everyday people.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga negotiated on Saturday with the CEO of Pfizer Inc. to get more doses of vaccine, which is now expected to be enough for all residents in September. This is long after the scheduled start of the Tokyo Olympics and far behind the pace of most major economies.
Japan only started vaccinating its sizable elderly population this month and health experts say it may take until winter or longer for most of the general population to access the shots.
It’s not clear how many foreigners are leaving Japan to be shot, but it’s a hot topic on social media and in business circles.
“I can confirm that I have heard of executives going to vaccinate in their home countries,” said Michael Mroczek, chairman of the European Business Council in Japan, adding that the number of people doing so is limited. due to the need to quarantine when he returns to Japan.
Marc Wesseling is a long-term foreign resident who couldn’t wait any longer. The co-founder of an advertising agency in Tokyo flew this month to Singapore, where his company has an office, in part to get the shots and to be able to safely visit his parents in the Netherlands.
“I love the country and I wish them all the best,” Wesseling said of Japan from its quarantine quarters in Singapore. “They’re not the fastest. I think a lot of people are frustrated, especially when you want to have the Olympics and everything. Come on, guys. Make it happen. Everyone does. Why wait?”
Japan has vaccinated about 1% of its population, compared to 2.9% in South Korea, which started later, and at least 40% in both the United States and Britain, according to a Reuters tracker.
The Maldives will soon offer shots to visitors as part of a “visit, vaccination and holiday” campaign, the tourism minister of the popular Indian Ocean destination told CNBC last week.
Japan bans the entry of tourists into the country and it is not easy for residents to get vaccinated abroad and return. A two-dose regimen would take at least a couple of weeks, often longer, and Japan makes forty-two weeks for people entering the country, even if they have been vaccinated.
“If you want to go back to your home country for inoculation, that’s fine with us,” Japan’s chief vaccine chief Taro Kono said Friday. “Some countries have a higher rate of COVID-19, so you can consider which is the safest for your health.”
Representatives of Japan’s foreign ministry and immigration service did not immediately respond with comments.
Japan’s leading health experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a fourth wave.
Nearly emergency measures have been imposed on 10 prefectures and the western metropolis of Osaka on Tuesday requested a full emergency declaration amid a rise in cases driven by mutant variants of the virus. Tokyo may follow it later in the week with a similar request, local media reported.
Lauren Jubelt thought about going home to Florida to get the shots, but eventually decided it wasn’t worth taking the risk abroad if Japan closes its borders.
“I get frustrated when I see my family in the U.S. get vaccinated,” said Jubelt, who works in digital marketing in Osaka.
“We don’t even have a solid date on when we can get it here and the cases are going up again.”
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