It’s been a few days after I got my second dose of the vaccine for COVID-19. As it should be known to everyone who follows the information flow, the vaccine does not give someone immunity to the virus, but can drastically reduce risks of severe symptoms should they contract it.
Personally I didn’t experience any serious side effects from the vaccine. Just some soreness around the site of injection and a little fatigue. The first dose I barely felt at all and the second dose I felt a little more, but it came nothing close to knocking me out.
The availability of the vaccine in Japan to the general public has been made quite slow compared to other developed countries. The elderly and those who with conditions that put them on priority were able to get access I’d say at least months before everyone else.
Everyone is eligible to get the vaccine for free in Japan and it is the responsibility of the local municipalities to organize the effort. This meant waiting for a postcard in the mail sent by the local government informing me that I was eligible to make a reservation for the vaccine.
Sadly, the postcard I received a few months ago didn’t actually mean I could go and make a reservation. Instead it was a pre-notice of about becoming eligible to make a reservation. The actual coupon to use to get a vaccine and information for vaccination sites and schedules would arrive in another separate mailing at a later date.
When I got the coupon and reservation info, there were a bunch of clinics and hospitals that offered individual appointments, but again, they seemed to be geared towards the elderly only. So I thought to check out the temporary vaccination sites operated by Japan’s self-defense force, which turned out to be no good either. They had finished running the vaccination sites for the meantime and there weren’t going to be anymore without government decisions.
I live in Osaka, which is a major metropolitan area of Japan, but my guess is vaccinations were way behind compared Tokyo because Tokyo had first priority, being the capitol, the host city for the Olympics, being the most populous area of Japan, and so on. It was strange too that other cities in Osaka had gotten their notices out earlier than where I live in Daito. Some coworkers and acquaintances of mine had already gotten their vaccines before I even got my postcard.
But regardless of the lateness of vaccinations, I think Japan is doing pretty well at getting a majority of the people vaccinated. Japan has its share of anti-vaxxers who will use any hearsay to argue the vaccine is more deadly than the virus or will cause unknown long term side effects. Back in the states it’s all talks about booster shots now, but it really brings up the issue of vaccine equity. Many countries and millions are unable to access the vaccines not because their country is too poor to afford any, but the developed countries are hogging the entire supply for themselves.
While things may have calmed down, it’s not over yet, so don’t let your guard down and keep up with the masks, no matter the discomfort. The sooner the spread of the virus is put under control, the less likely it’ll mutate into something else more deadly and infectious
One Chance Works 