Coronavirus: Japan to study cases of people infected even after vaccination
- While the shots prevent people from getting sick, it is not yet clear whether they prevent them from getting infected
- Japan plans to begin inoculations in February after a vaccine is approved for domestic use
Inoculations are expected to start in Japan possibly in February. The health ministry will create a system to gather vaccination records of all infected people by adding checkboxes to a document that doctors are required to submit to public health centres when they confirm coronavirus infections, the sources said.
The formats for reporting rubella and measles, other major communicable diseases, also have checkboxes for vaccination records.
The new system will enable authorities to know the immunisation records of coronavirus patients, such as which companies’ vaccines they have received and whether they had a single or double dose, according to the sources.
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Based on clinical trials overseas and their reported efficacy, currently available coronavirus vaccines protect people from getting sick, while whether they prevent people from becoming infected is not clearly known yet.
By obtaining information such as the ratio of vaccinated people among coronavirus patients and the progress of their symptoms, the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry expects it can evaluate the effectiveness of a vaccine and the impact of vaccination on the spread of the epidemic within the country, the sources said.