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

Japan is considering issuing certificates for those who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, said the minister in charge of vaccination efforts on Monday, as requests for systems that ensure people can travel safely again grow.

“If requested internationally, we can issue inoculation certificates,” said Taro Kono during a diet session, adding that the certificates can be processed through government vaccine delivery management systems.

Kono’s last remark is a turnaround from a previous position that Japan would not be in favor of issuing this documentation and comes as requests for this system in the United States and Europe grow. Israel has already introduced a COVID-19 vaccine certificate program.

Last month, Kono seemed to overturn the idea of ​​using COVID-19 vaccine certificates for official purposes, including as a vaccine passport that would allow international travel. He argued that this would exclude those who cannot be vaccinated because of allergies.

In terms of implementing domestic vaccines, the government plans to urge companies to allow employees to take paid leave to get vaccines and go to the hospital in case of side effects, given the concerns that some people may have time to go vaccination sites, his spokesman said.

“We are going to examine what steps we can take, including making requests to the business community on the matter and considering whether the government should allow national civil servants to take paid leave,” said the chief secretary of the cabinet, Katsunobu Kato, at a news conference.

Nippon Life Insurance Co. decided not to reduce the payment if employees get the vaccine during working hours.

Japan started launching the vaccine last month, with health professionals at the top of the queue.

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

The last shipment from the pharmaceutical factory in Belgium can cover 216,000 doses, with a bottle containing six shots. The government plans to hand them over to city halls for the inoculation of the 4.8 million health professionals prioritized in the vaccination program.

Japan lagged behind other countries, such as the United States and Britain, in launching vaccines amid supply shortages due to production delays at the Pfizer plant and European Union export controls.

But, as the country is expected to receive more vaccines than initially scheduled from the week starting next Monday, the central government hopes to secure and send enough supplies for the two vaccines to cover health workers by the week starting in May 10th.