Photo/Illutration Shigeru Omi, chairman of the government panel of experts dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic, meets with reporters after the Jan. 7 panel meeting. (Taku Hosokawa)

Experts on an advisory panel grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic took issue with a government measure to allow greater social activity for individuals who can show they have been vaccinated twice or had a recent negative test result.

The panel met Jan. 7 to approve the implementation of pre-emergency measures in Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures, which are all in the grip of a surge in cases.

But many members also voiced concerns about the use of the vaccination and negative test certificates to allow more unrestricted freedoms.

The central government argued that those with the certificates were likely to be reasonably safe eating out or attending large-scale events even if pre-emergency measures were in place.

However, panel members pointed to a finding that even two jabs are not foolproof against contracting the Omicron variant.

One expert went as far as to call for a wholesale re-evaluation of what the certificate measure should entail.

On the other hand, preliminary studies show that the Omicron variant generally has a lower risk of patients developing serious symptoms in comparison with the Delta variant that caused a major health scare across Japan last year.

“If a long time has passed since the last vaccination, the effects will weaken,” noted Satoshi Kamayachi, an executive board member of the Japan Medical Association, at the Jan. 7 panel meeting. “It will become more important from now on to look at the data on when the vaccines were administered.”

The panel’s concerns led the central government to include a new option to prefectural governors allowing them to suspend use of the certificate measure if they fear infections are surging in their jurisdictions.

Left unsaid is the fact that the government is desperately keen to avoid allowing the restrictions to impact daily economic and social activities. For this reason, officials proposed conducting COVID-19 tests only at events involving large numbers of participants, such as Coming-of-Age Day ceremonies and weddings.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki was among those calling for the certification measure to remain in place.

“We plan to continue to consult with experts and local governments while observing the trends regarding symptoms from the variant and the progress made in giving booster shots,” Isozaki said at his Jan. 7 news conference.

Kazuhiro Tateda, a professor of infectious diseases at Toho University who also sits on the government panel, expressed concern that COVID-19 cases, already surging in Tokyo, Osaka and elsewhere, will continue to rise after the three-day weekend that kicked off Jan. 8.

“If there is an increase in infections, there will definitely be patients who develop serious symptoms,” Tateda said. “That would place a greater burden on the medical care system and panic would likely set in. Our mission is to keep pointing out the fundamental importance of basic infection-prevention measures.”

(This article was written by Kai Ichino, Kenta Noguchi and Naoyuki Himeno.)

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