A syringe containing a dose of the coronavirus disease vaccine (COVID-19) is on display at the Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital in Tokyo, Japan on March 5, 2021. Yoshikazu Tsuno / Pool via REUTERS
The icy COVID-19 vaccination boost in Japan is prompting some foreign residents to fly to other countries to get vaccinated as the pandemic rises again with no shots in front of ordinary people.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga negotiated Saturday with the CEO of Pfizer Inc to secure more vaccine doses, which are expected to be sufficient for all residents by September. That is well after the scheduled start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo and well behind the pace of most major economies.
Japan only started vaccinating its sizable elderly population this month, and health experts say it could be winter or longer for most of the general population to have access to the shots.
It’s unclear how many foreigners fly out of Japan to take photos, but it’s a hot topic on social media and in business circles.
“I can confirm that I have heard that executives are going to their home countries for vaccines,” said Michael Mroczek, chairman of the European Business Council in Japan, and the number who do so is limited due to the need to quarantine when they travel back to Japan.
Marc Wesseling is a long-term foreign resident who could not wait any longer. The co-founder of an advertising agency in Tokyo flew this month to Singapore, where his company has an office, partly to make the recordings so that he could safely visit his parents in the Netherlands.
“I love the country and wish them all the best,” Wesseling said of Japan from his quarantine quarantine in Singapore. “They’re not the fastest. I think a lot of people are frustrated, especially when you want the Olympics and stuff. Come on guys. Make it happen. The whole world is doing it. Why wait?”
According to a Reuters tracker, Japan vaccinated about 1% of its population, compared to 2.9% in South Korea, which started later, and at least 40% in both the United States and Britain.
The Maldives will soon be offering photos to visitors as part of a “visit, vaccination and vacation” campaign, the tourism minister of the popular Indian Ocean destination told CNBC last week.
Japan forbids tourists from entering the country, and it is not easy for residents to get vaccinated and return abroad. A two-dose regimen would last at least a few weeks, often longer, and Japan maintains a two-week quarantine for people entering the country, even if they have been vaccinated.
“If you want to go back to your home country to get vaccinated, that’s fine with us,” Taro Kono, Japan’s vaccination chief, said Friday. “Some countries have a higher COVID-19 rate, so you might want to consider which one is safer for your health.”
Representatives from Japan’s Foreign Ministry and Immigration Service did not immediately respond with comment.
Japan’s top health experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a fourth wave.
Quasi-emergency measures have been taken in 10 prefectures, and the western metropolis of Osaka requested a full emergency call on Tuesday amid a recovery from cases caused by mutant variants of the virus. Tokyo may follow suit later in the week with a similar request, local media said.
Lauren Jubelt thought about going to Florida to take the photos, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the risk of being trapped abroad if Japan closed its borders.
“I’m frustrated to see my family in the US getting their vaccine,” said Jubelt, a digital marketing officer in Osaka.
“We don’t even have a set date when we can get it here and things are picking up again.”
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