Japanese Woman Received COVID Vaccine 4 Times in One Month... Revealing Lax Vaccine Management

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It was recently revealed that an elderly person in Japan received the COVID-19 vaccine four times within a month, raising concerns about the Japanese government's lax management of COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun and Kyodo News on the 3rd, Gifu City in Gifu Prefecture announced the previous day that a woman in her 80s residing in the city received the Pfizer vaccine four times at two different medical institutions.

The woman received Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at the same medical institution on June 7 and 28, and also received the Pfizer vaccine at a separate medical institution on June 20 and July 11.

The fact that the woman had been vaccinated four times was uncovered when an organization handling vaccine cost settlements contacted authorities, noting that "there were more than two pre-examination forms for the same person."

Gifu City announced that the woman did not exhibit any particular adverse reactions to the vaccine.

The reason she was able to receive the vaccine four times within about a month was due to the reissuance of her vaccination ticket. She reported "losing the vaccination ticket" on June 19 and received a reissued ticket on the same day.

Yomiuri reported that this situation occurred because an acquaintance who accompanied the woman during her initial vaccination had the woman's vaccination ticket.

Gifu City explained that at the time of the reissuance request, they were unaware that the woman had been vaccinated on June 7, and after hearing that she had not been vaccinated, they reissued the ticket.

Gifu City stated that they will thoroughly record this information in the system to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

In Japan, vaccination tickets are mailed to each household, and individuals visit medical institutions with these tickets to receive vaccines.

Each medical institution is required to enter vaccination records into the Vaccine Registration System (VRS) after vaccination, but it is known that due to staff shortages and other reasons at the site, real-time updates are often not reflected.