Weekly Update: News on Japan & the Netherlands – Week 11, 2021

At the same time, government data shows that hospital bed occupancy rates are improving. Compared with a week earlier, Tokyo has fallen from 28% to 25%, Saitama from 41% to 39%, Chiba 46% to 41%, and Kanagawa 27% to 25%.

Suga told a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday that it is too early to tell whether the state of emergency needs to continue. “The pace of decline in new cases has leveled off recently. We will listen to experts’ views before making a final decision,” he says. “I cannot tell under current conditions whether we should extend the declaration or not.”

Chiba’s governor, Morita Kensaku, is wary about lifting the restrictions, citing the emergence of new strains that are said to be more contagious.
“We have to halt the spread of the variants,” says Morita. “The number of people being infected has to be reduced, before the state of emergency should be lifted.”

Chiba Prefecture reported its first cluster of infections from a coronavirus variant on Monday. Variants have been detected in 17 positive cases, 12 of which have been traced to a restaurant where customers sang karaoke.

Saitama Governor Ono Motohiro has already made up his mind. “The rate of decline in new cases has started to slow recently in Saitama.” Ono says. “There are now signs that new case numbers are starting to go up again.” He says that shows Saitama is not ready for the state of emergency to end.

In Kanagawa, it is a different story, according to Governor Kuroiwa Yuji. He says the prefecture has already met the criteria for the state of emergency to be lifted.
“I feel people in Kanagawa are growing frustrated by all the restrictions,” says Kuroiwa, adding if new infections increase once again, he would immediately reinstate measures to stop the spread.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko says the city is stepping up its efforts to secure more beds for COVID-19 patients. She warns that this will result in fewer beds for patients with other illnesses. “We want people to follow the basics to ensure they do not get infected, and do not get other people infected,” says Koike.

A government decision is expected later this week, possibly on Thursday, on whether the state of emergency will remain or end as scheduled.

Such syringes, capable of drawing six doses from a vial, will be used to administer the second shots for health care professionals, while typical ones can only extract 5 doses from a vial. The vaccine for their first shots will be shipped from 12 April. The more efficient syringes will be used for inoculating elderly people as well.

Japan is in the process of inoculating 4.8 million health care workers and plans to expand the vaccine rollout to people aged 65 or older, a group of about 36 million, in mid-April. People with underlying conditions such as diabetes and those working at elderly care facilities will follow. Shots for the elderly will be delivered to municipalities by the end of June, Kono said.

Japan has lagged behind other countries such as the United States and Britain in its vaccine rollout amid a supply shortage due to production delays at Pfizer’s factory and the European Union’s export controls, which are set to run until the end of June. The fifth batch of the Pfizer vaccine, about 420,000 doses, will arrive in Japan on Monday, according to Kono. The country received its first shipment last month.

Public skepticism over side effects could also hold up the effort, with only 63.1% of respondents in a Kyodo News poll conducted last month saying they want to be inoculated.

Among the 181,184 people in the country who have received a shot, 37 claims of anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction, were reported as of Thursday, but one of them was retracted, according to the health ministry. Kono added all of them had recovered. As for 17 cases reported by Tuesday, only seven were confirmed as being anaphylaxis following intricate exams based on international standards, the ministry said.

Furthermore, Kono says he will call on businesses to allow employees to take leave to be vaccinated, and that the government is considering ways to allow people to take leave from work to get inoculated or if they develop adverse reactions after being vaccinated. He also indicated the government may consider measures to carry out vaccinations at workplaces.

Prime Minister Suga already received his COVID-19 vaccine ahead of his visit to the United States. Arrangements are being made for Suga to meet US President Joe Biden early next month or later. He and each member of a Japanese delegation accompanying him will be vaccinated before their trip.

Suga received the first of two doses of the vaccine at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on Tuesday morning.

A national memorial ceremony has been held in Tokyo, where people also observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. The government has held a memorial ceremony annually on 11 March starting in 2012, but the event was canceled last year and the number of attendees has been limited this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the ceremony, family members of victims spoke about their loss and how they are trying to move on. Saito Makoto is from Fukushima prefecture, one of the areas most devastated by the disaster.

This is the first time Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended the annual ceremony. The couple has visited the affected areas since the disaster and offered words of encouragement to survivors before Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne in 2019.

At the ceremony, the Emperor said that while he feels reconstruction has been progressing, various problems still remain. He said his heart aches when he turns his thoughts to those who have struggled.

Japan’s Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide said that 2,000 people still reside in temporary housing even though reconstruction is entering its final phases. He stressed the government’s commitment to leading reconstruction efforts. He added that Japan’s history of natural disasters has created resiliency in its people, and vowed that the country would follow past examples of “courage and hope.”

Domestic rival All Nippon Airways Co has stopped accepting new reservations for all international flights to Japan since Monday through 21 March. The suspension may be extended, it said.

The Japanese government has called for the limits as Tokyo and nearby areas remain under the pandemic-induced state of emergency and are still struggling to contain the virus, the sources said.

A source with a foreign embassy said even visiting top-level officials will be asked to undergo coronavirus testing within 72 hours of departing for Japan and again upon arrival. They will be accompanied by Japanese government officials during their stays.

Visiting VIPs’ access to athletes will also be restricted, a source said. Travel will only be allowed using designated vehicles, with the use of public transport being prohibited in principle.

The Japanese government and the Tokyo Games organizing committee will explain their rules for visiting officials and virus countermeasures to governments through Japan’s embassies and their national Olympic committees. The final framework will be hammered out based on the coronavirus situation and the responses from participating countries.

Prior to the games’ one-year postponement, Tokyo had been preparing for more than 100 heads of state and government leaders to attend the opening ceremony. But with the global health crisis still raging, some top officials may refrain from making the trip.

It recommends that the government boost budget and taxation support. It also asks that the government establish a special zone where related infrastructure can be intensively developed, and that any successful projects be applied to other areas.

Another proposal is to nurture human resources to work in research and development. Kajiyama said hydrogen is essential in achieving a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

He expressed his willingness to work with the association to proceed with policies. He said he will do all he can to carry out regulatory reforms and institutional support based on the association’s views.

Warmer than usual weather in February this year probably brought forward the blooming dates, an agency official said.

“The daily influx into hospitals is increasing slightly,” the LCPS wrote on Monday, mentioning the assumed dominance of the B117 strain. “On this basis, we expect a gradual increase in COVID hospital occupancy.” Of the 2,019 patients, 1,455 were in regular care, a net increase of 87. The other 564 were in intensive care, reflecting an increase of ten.

Data from public health agency RIVM showed that the moving average of new coronavirus infections stood at 5,588 after rising for eight straight days to the highest mark in nearly two months. Another 5,549 people tested positive for the COVID-19 infection, the RIVM said on Monday, up 41% from a week ago, but down 8% from Sunday.

An estimated 1,892,689 vaccine doses have now been administered in the Netherlands. Most of those were a person’s first dose, with around a half-million having been fully vaccinated against the disease.

The EMA director also said she is not surprised at the fuss surrounding the vaccine. “If you vaccinate millions of people, it makes sense that incidental cases will present themselves and they will stand out. It is up to us to investigate whether this is indeed related to the vaccine, or whether there are other causes.”

The results of the additional studies are expected on Thursday. It will then also be announced whether additional measures are being taken regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. Until then, Cooke urges people to report side effects to a doctor. All other vaccines will also be tested for side effects, but AstraZeneca’s has priority.

As soon as the AtsraZeneca vaccine is cleared to be used again, extra appointments will be scheduled to clear the backlog caused by the vaccine not being used in the coming weeks, public health institute RIVM said on Monday. The GGD health services have enough people at the vaccination sites to “make up for the delay quickly”, the service said to ANP.

Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health also told television program Goedemorgen Nederland that he does not expect this pause in AstraZeneca vaccinations to cause a major delay. He is hopeful that the vaccines will be cleared and can then simply be used again. “If we can continue as usual in a few weeks, and I assume that we can, then it really doesn’t make much of a difference with where we were.”

Former chief inspector at the Inspection for Medical Care, Wim Schellekens, is skeptical about the offer. “Of course, they know how to give a shot. But we are vaccinating vulnerable people here who require special regulations and have an increased dependency on their GP.”

Schellekens said that vaccinating people in dentists’ offices could pose a logistical problem. “When you are vaccinating people in large numbers, you need to ensure there is enough space to keep distance, also because you need to wait 15 minutes after the vaccination to check if patients have any complications. Dentists have to provide that space too and I wonder if they are capable of that.” He said that the final decision should rest with the local GGD.

The 4 and 5 May Committee announced this week that the Liberation Festivals will again be online this year, with more than 200 performances via livestream on 5 May. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will spend the King’s birthday in Eindhoven this year, but without the usual crowds. Some small-scale activities will be arranged, especially for children and the elderly, but the majority of this event will be held online.

A completely corona-proof way to vote is by going to a drive-through polling station, where the voter only has to open the car window to pick up the iconic red pencil, which is possible in multiple areas such as Brabant, Twente, Almere and Utrecht.

“OVpay is a more modern solution that offers the traveler easy, fast and safe public transport. We are working on combinations with theaters, museums, attractions, events, shared cars and bicycles, so that people can use one QR-code for going out on the train, bus, tram and metro,” Peters said to the newspaper.