Japan launches new crown vaccination and stable supply becomes a problem
□ Ji Yong, our reporter in Japan
On the morning of February 17, as a doctor at the Tokyo Medical Center received the new crown pneumonia vaccine, Japan started vaccination work.
According to the current vaccination plan, Japan will give priority to the vaccination of medical workers and the elderly over 65, and popularize it to the general public in the summer.
For Japan, the new crown vaccine is the key to defeating the epidemic and even hosting the Olympic Games. The opening of vaccination brings hope to Japan. However, because all vaccines rely on imports, how to ensure a stable supply of vaccines in the future has become a difficult problem for the Yoshihide Suga government.
Japan's first batch of vaccinated against the new crown was 125 doctors and nurses from 8 hospitals in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Kazuhiro Shinki, director of the Tokyo Medical Center who was the first to be vaccinated, said at a press conference that he hoped that vaccinations would help medical staff and patients improve their ability to prevent the disease.
Regarding the COVID-19 vaccination that "has come out after a lot of calls," Taro Kono, the minister in charge of administrative reform who is responsible for comprehensive coordination of vaccination, said at a press conference, "Vaccination, which is the key to epidemic prevention and control, has finally started. I hope that the Japanese people will be positive. Vaccination".
According to the plan, more than 40,000 medical workers in more than 100 hospitals across Japan, including medical institutions affiliated to national hospitals, are the first batch of vaccinations.
After the first batch of vaccination is completed, the second batch of approximately 3.7 million medical workers and the third batch of approximately 36 million elderly people over 65 will be given priority vaccination.
At present, the Japanese medical system is under great pressure, and hospitals have collectively infected incidents from time to time. For this reason, the Japanese government has prioritized medical workers to vaccinate to reduce the risk of infection in medical institutions while ensuring the normal operation of the medical system.
According to the vaccination plan issued by the Japanese government, the third batch of vaccination for about 36 million people over 65 years old will be launched in April. After that, people with basic diseases (approximately 8.2 million people) and elderly care facility staff (approximately 2 million people) will be vaccinated. ) And vaccinations for people aged 60 to 64 (about 7.4 million people), and finally vaccinated for ordinary people over 16 years old in the summer.
Regarding the vaccination for the elderly over 65 and the general public, local governments will mail vaccination coupons to individuals in accordance with household registration. After receiving the vaccination voucher number, the public will make an appointment for vaccination time and location.
Among them, the mailing of the first batch of vaccination coupons for the elderly over 65 years old will start in late March.
Regarding the vaccination methods, there are mainly two types of group vaccination and individual vaccination. In addition, for people with special needs in elderly care facilities, roving vaccination will be adopted.
Group vaccination is to set up vaccination facilities in hospitals and gymnasiums. The advantage is that a large number of vaccination can be carried out and the vaccination efficiency can be improved. The problem is that it may cause gatherings of people and increase the risk of infection; individual vaccination is implemented by clinics, etc. The advantage is that it is convenient for nearby vaccination. The problem is that vaccine transportation is difficult and it is not convenient for field observation after vaccination.
A survey conducted by the "Yomiuri Shimbun" for 75 Japanese local governments showed that because of the vast differences in medical resources and regional environments, there are certain differences in the vaccination methods from place to place, and most of them adopt collective vaccination and individual vaccination.
On the 10th, Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Norihisa Tamura stated in the parliamentary defense that “because the people of the whole country do not have the experience of vaccination in a short period of time, there has been confusion”, expressing the hope that vaccination will be promoted as soon as possible but he needs to cross the river by feeling the stones Helpless.
The domestic new crown vaccination in Japan is later than that of major countries in the world. The reason is that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has implemented a small-scale clinical trial in Japan, which has confirmed the effectiveness and safety to a certain extent.
On the 14th, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare allowed Pfizer vaccines to be used in a “special approval” method that simplified the review process after an assessment.
In addition, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has submitted an application for the production and sales of the new crown vaccine in Japan to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on the 5th, and it is expected to be approved after March.
At present, for Japan, how to ensure the timely and quantitative supply of vaccines has become the key.
The Japanese government has already ordered 314 million doses of vaccines from many overseas pharmaceutical companies that can be used by more than 126 million people. However, due to the shortage of vaccines worldwide and the EU’s export approval system for vaccines produced in the region, Japan generally has There are concerns about whether the vaccine can be supplied in a stable manner.