Japan's COVID-19 booster shot drive kicks off with health care workers (Japan Times)

Japan began administering COVID-19 booster shots to health care workers nationwide on Wednesday (1 Dec) as the country braces for the potential impact of the omicron variant, a concerning new strain of the coronavirus that scientists worldwide are scrambling to research.

Five doctors and 13 nurses at the state-run Tokyo Medical Center in Meguro Ward received their third jabs Wednesday morning. The hospital’s director, Kazuhiro Araki, who got the shot, said he feels relieved that the rollout began as scheduled.

Medical personnel at Tokyo Medical University’s Hachioji Medical Center and some hospitals in Aichi and Saitama prefectures, among other facilities, also received their third shots.

“Amid the possibility of a sixth wave, I cannot help but get the third jab,” nurse Narumi Tokoi, 32, who works at Kodaira Hospital in Toda, Saitama Prefecture, said, according to Kyodo News.

Third shots will be administered free of charge to all residents age 18 and older at least eight months after their second doses, in principle. So far, only the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized, and it can be given regardless of whether an individual’s initial vaccine was made by Pfizer, Moderna Inc. or AstraZeneca PLC. The government is aiming to make Moderna’s booster shot available as well.

The article did not mention J&J which is not approved for use in Japan due to health concerns.

Further, Shionogi is a major domestic Japanese pharmaceutical working on a COVID vaccine candidate that is new formulation with a modified adjuvant with clinical trials from August and should be approved shortly by MHW and PDMA.

FYI, Japan is now about 75% double vaccinated out of the entire population, with the above foreign vaccines, and Corona infections have plummeted, now at about 1% infection compared to peak. 21 new infections reported today in Tokyo, population 14 million. Zero deaths reported in entire nation.

I think that, like in Florida, a big component in the recent collapse in case numbers in Japan (especially Tokyo), is that the Delta variant has had its run, and burned out naturally. It goes quicker in densely populated areas, and Tokyo is famously densely populated.

The vaccines seem more effective in mitigating serious illness and reducing death from Delta, than they are at preventing infection or transmission.

Even though the vaccines may be even less of a fit for the highly mutated Omicron variant, they are still likely of value in mitigating adverse outcomes.

I just went and got a booster myself, in preparation for Omicron having its run (and Delta still on the move in my area). To my knowledge, I have not yet had a COVID-19 infection, but I figure it is only a matter of time.

Others have speculated that the dramatic collapse in Tokyo case numbers may be because of widespread use of Ivermectin, but my understanding is that it is not widely used there for prevention, and I have no idea how common it is for use in treatment. Have you heard anything about Ivermectin use (actual rates) in Japan?

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