Coronavirus: Asian nations ramp up flu vaccination plans to fend off double threat

With a second or third wave of the pandemic looming for many countries, tackling this year’s influenza season has taken on increased urgency

Japan is preparing 31.2 million flu shots for the winter season, up 7 per cent from last year

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In Australia, where the flu season runs roughly from June to September, officials have procured 16.5 million shots. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:19pm, 14 Sep 2020Updated: 5:21pm, 14 Sep 2020

Some Asian countries are rolling out early and more aggressive influenza vaccination programmes this year, seeking to reduce the potential of people contracting the flu and Covid-19 simultaneously, crippling health care systems.

With a second or third wave of the coronavirus pandemic looming for many countries, tackling this year’s flu season – typically December through February – has taken on increased urgency.

In Japan, the health ministry is preparing 31.2 million flu shots, up 7 per cent from last year and the highest amount since 2015. Officials are also urging symptomatic patients to call medical hotlines before going for testing to avoid contagion at hospitals.

“We are going to focus our medical resources on the severely ill in anticipation of the seasonal influenza epidemic,” Takeshi Enami, a Japanese health ministry official said last week after a meeting of disease experts.

The World Health Organisation has urged global widespread flu vaccinations this year, amid concerns the same people who are most vulnerable to risks from Covid-19, such as the elderly and those with respiratory conditions, are also at greatest risk for the flu.

Data on the number of annual flu cases across Asia is limited, although Japan had about 12 million cases in the 2018/19 season, according to an official source.