Originally Posted by
hailstorm
Going forward, the good news for easing the burden on hospitals is that almost 90% of all senior citizens are now fully vaccinated and boosted. The bad news for stemming transmission is that the percentage of those in their 20's and 30's that are fully boosted remains under 40%. As I recall, pretty much everyone that wished to be vaccinated could have done so by the end of last October, after which more than six months have now passed, so pretty much everyone that wishes to be boosted could do so by now. So it seems that quite a few of the younger generation have opted out of getting additional shots.
This is a false belief.
Vaccines are distributed by local govs in Japan, and my wife and I could not get vaccinated until late October last year since we were under 60 and that was just the schedule for our city. Some people I know had to wait till late November.
We finally got the application for our boosters in the mail in mid-April (no online reservations here). The 3 days they offered for getting shots in May weren't possible for us (though this is assuming all the slots in May weren't already full), so we had to ask for the next dates, and therefore we won't be able to get boosted until mid-June. I already know of one neighbor who won't be able to get his until July since he sent it in later than us and the date he requested for June was full.
So please, do not claim that people aren't boosted only due to opting out of it. Many many people in smaller cities and towns have literally been not allowed to get them yet. The national government already announced months ago that the booster program is to run until mid/late July.
(and before you start claiming I can go somewhere else since where you happen to live they give out boosters willy-nilly, yes this may be possible for me if I wanted to deal with the arrangements, annoying paperwork, and travel burden, but it is not a realistic option for the millions of others across the country who are in my same situation)