Japan vaccine prep faces hesitancy and uncertainty

Japan is accelerating preparations for COVID-19 vaccinations in hopes of starting them in late February, but uncertainty is growing as the country faces a vaccine-shy public, slow approval process, and bureaucratic roadblocks, casting grave doubt on whether the Tokyo Olympics this summer is possible. The country secured vaccines for more than all its population of 127 million after striking deals with three foreign pharmaceuticals - Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca, and Moderna Inc. - when they were in the works last year.

While several Japanese pharmaceutical and research organisations are developing their own vaccines, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is to distribute Moderna vaccines and produce Novavax Inc. vaccine. Masayuki Imagawa from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said his company  decided to prioritize speed and chose to import Moderna product and make Novavax vaccine at Takeda's factory in Japan. He said the decision was not compromised because of the Olympics.

Under the current plan, inoculation will start with 10-thousand front-line medical workers, then some three million other medical staff will be added ahead of high-risk groups such as the elderly, those with underlying health conditions and caregivers. The rest of the population are expected to get access around May or later, though officials refuse to give an exact timeline.

Even as Japan is under a partial state of emergency and struggling with the upsurge of the infections, people are not thrilled by the plan in a country where vaccines have been repeatedly linked to side-effects rather than benefit. Although they were built on years of basic research, the vaccines that were developed within months compared to usual years do have lots of unknowns, experts say.

Japan has about 351-thousand cases, with 4,800 deaths, according to the health ministry.Under the law the COVID-19 inoculation is voluntary. In Japan, where almost everyone has health insurance coverage and access to medical care at a reasonable cost, people may be less motivated to turn to vaccines and other preventive medicine, experts say. Thousands of medical workers would have to be mobilised to give inoculations, monitor and respond in case of possible anaphylactic shock.

Securing their help and space is a challenge at a time hospitals are already burdened with treatment of COVID-19 patients, said Hitoshi Iwase, an official at Tokyo's downtown Sumida district tasked with preparing vaccination for the 275-thousand residents. Uncertainty of the vaccine safety and efficacy also makes it difficult to predict if or when Japan can obtain herd immunity from vaccination and get the pandemic under control.

(Image Credit: AP)