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Since the U.K. and the U.S. started inoculating people against Covid, a lot of people have been asking when they can expect a jab in Japan.
But as @lisadont reports, Japan's complicated history with vaccines means authorities must take a cautious approach https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/a-bitter-vaccine-history-means-hurdles-for-japan-s-covid-fight?sref=tXumBMhb
But as @lisadont reports, Japan's complicated history with vaccines means authorities must take a cautious approach https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/a-bitter-vaccine-history-means-hurdles-for-japan-s-covid-fight?sref=tXumBMhb
Surprising to some, Japan has one of the lowest rates of vaccine confidence in the world, which <30% strongly agreeing that vaccines were safe, important and effective. A recent poll by NHK found 36% said they didn’t want to take a Covid-19 vaccine.
But Japan's vaccine skepticism pre-dates and is very different from the recent social media anti-vax crowd. It has its roots in the reported side effects of an MMR campaign in the 1990s and the government's response, as well as court decision that made the authorities cautious
All that means Japan is already facing a public not exactly thrilled by vaccines, and needs to tread cautiously when it comes to the Covid jab to avoid giving the impression the approval is a rush-job.
Japan's handling of the pandemic, with 3,000 dead in total rather than in a day, also means caution is prudent and a vaccine lower priority (it also makes it very hard to conduct efficacy tests locally, meaning emergency approval of vaccines needs to be based on overseas data)
While Japan has secured all the doses it needs and passed legislation to give vaccines to the population for free, the rollout is going to take time. The planned vaccine timeline currently looks something like this, with jabs likely to happen no earlier than February:
All that means.. hang in there a little bit longer for your jab. There's a tricky battle coming in the court of public opinion.
“The final decision to receive the vaccine or not will be made by the people,” Health Minister Tamura said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/a-bitter-vaccine-history-means-hurdles-for-japan-s-covid-fight?sref=tXumBMhb
“The final decision to receive the vaccine or not will be made by the people,” Health Minister Tamura said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/a-bitter-vaccine-history-means-hurdles-for-japan-s-covid-fight?sref=tXumBMhb
