Japan considers COVID-19 vaccination certificates as calls from abroad grow

Japan is considering issuing certificates to those vaccinated against the coronavirus, the minister responsible for vaccination efforts said on Monday, while overseas calls are growing for systems to ensure people can travel safely again.

“If requested internationally, we could issue vaccination certificates,” Taro Kono said during a diet session, adding that the certificates could be processed by government vaccine management systems.

Kono’s latest remark is a general face from an earlier position that Japan would not give preference to the issuance of such documentation and that calls for such a system are growing in the United States and Europe. Israel has already instituted a COVID-19 vaccination certificate program.

Last month, it appeared that Kono was dropping the idea of ​​using COVID-19 vaccine certificates for official purposes, including as a vaccine passport enabling international travel. He argued that it is excluded by those who cannot be vaccinated due to allergies.

In terms of the deployment of domestic vaccines, the government plans to encourage companies to allow employees to take paid leave to get shots and go to hospital in case of side effects, in light of the concerns that some people have to make time to get to vaccination rooms, his top spokesman said.

“We will investigate the steps we can take, including addressing requests to the business community and considering whether the government should allow national public employees to take paid leave,” Katsunobu Kato, chief cabinet secretary, told a news conference. .

Nippon Life Insurance Co. decided not to pay payment if employees received the vaccine during their working hours.

Japan began rolling out the vaccine last month, with health workers at the helm.

On Monday morning, the fifth batch of COVID-19 vaccines developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech SE developed, arrived at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture.

The latest shipment from the drugmaker in Belgium can cover 216,000 doses, with a six-shot vial. The government plans to deliver them to prefectural governments for the vaccination of the 4.8 million health workers prioritized in the vaccination program.

Japan has lagged behind other countries such as the United States and Britain in the deployment of vaccines amid a shortage of supplies due to delays in production at Pfizer’s factory and European Union export controls.

As the country is expected to receive more vaccinations than initially planned from the week beginning next Monday, the central government expects to secure and send sufficient supplies by the week of May 10 for the two shots to cover health workers.