The spread of the highly contagious BA.5 Omicron sub-variant has seen the daily number of Covid cases in Tokyo and cities across Japan surpass 230,000 for the first time last week. Those under 20 made up about 30 percent of new infections in July, compared with 19 percent in August last year. People under the age of 30 together accounted for about half of all new cases. According to the World Health Organization, Japan reported the highest number of new cases in the Asia-Pacific region between the week of July 18 and 24, followed by South Korea and Australia. Japan’s low vaccination rate among young people is in contrast to most of east Asia, where the elderly lag behind the rest of the population. The Japanese government has been very successful in vaccinating most citizens over the age of 65, who make up nearly a third of the country’s total population.
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While a fourth vaccine is distributed for the elderly, vaccination for children and adolescents has been much slower, with around 33% of people aged between 12 and 19 having a triple vaccination. The vaccination program for children aged between five and 11 started in February and only around 17% of this age group have received two doses. The government did not approve a third dose for this group, raising concerns among experts after studies showed double-vaccinated people were at higher risk of infection than those who had triple vaccinations. “The biggest factor [for the increase in cases] is the slow progress with vaccination for children,” said Junichiro Nishi, an infectious disease expert at Kagoshima University. “It appears to be too late now to stop the spread, but in the long term, a third dose of vaccination will be needed for ages five to 11.” In addition to the delayed implementation of a vaccination program for young people, Nishi said the spike in Covid cases was also due to the relatively few Japanese who were infected during the first waves of the pandemic. In Japan, less than 10 percent of the population is infected with Covid, compared to about 30 percent in the US and 34 percent in the UK. “We expect record numbers to continue across the country,” said Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, who chairs a panel of experts advising the health ministry.
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The virus continues to affect the daily lives of people in Asia’s largest advanced economy, with many wearing face masks and sanitizing their hands before entering stores. Despite the increase in cases, the government has not imposed restrictions on social and economic activities as in previous waves. This is mainly because the number of deaths and serious cases from Covid has been low, even though cases in the elderly have also increased significantly. In Japan, the death rate from coronavirus is 0.3 percent among infected people, compared with 1.1 percent in the US and 0.8 percent in the UK, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
