nmpls

Honestly, the digital commonpass SMART card is slowly gaining traction here in the US. While it's currently only accepted in a few states (though mandatory in HI), a huge number of pharmacies and health systems participate. I'm hoping it catches on as it will be much harder to fake.

freecia

Are there general vaccine mandates for JP healthcare workers? Could they legally make Covid vaccination a requirement for new hires before sponsorship or job offer? I'd guess certain healthcare staff is at a premium in much of the world. It used to be mostly covid related staff demand but I've read US reports of areas which are/were doing better have a lot of pent-up regular health care needs which people were deferring. Even if a healthcare worker related visa is easier to enter Japan (if it isn't, this seems like it should be prioritized higher than the allowance of English language teachers), finding people willing to take the jobs for the 2019 pay, quarantine time, language lessons, and international separation from family might be a challenge.

Not that big tech adoption makes stuff succeed but Apple might be adding commonpass SMART health cards to their wallet https://www.engadget.com/apple-walle...193036015.html

Google Android page states they support it in US & Australia https://support.google.com/googlepay...087601974&rd=1 which makes me wonder if other regions have privacy restrictions vs their own formats.

Couple of other formats are in use
https://apnews.com/article/europe-co...7aa1bbcc325c68

I also wonder if digital wallets will support multiple passes as some younger US kids don't have phones and 5-12 is the next vaccination group seeking approval. Pfizer and Moderna are approved 12 and up in Japan. I've seen younger kids with smart phones in Japan which makes sense given how young they start commuting and running errands.

freed0m

Countries used to export healthcare workers no longer do so, not at regular number of exports.

Healthcare workers can't be ramped up easily. beds and equipment are much easier. Those additional ICU beds are at the expense of normal healthcare where they draw doctors and nurses. The coming winter is gloomy everywhere.

Japan should seriously consider booster shots for the elderly before the winter.

hailstorm

Currently no law allows them to do this. People are free to choose whether or not to get vaccinated, and that choice cannot be held against their employment status. Employees don't even have to disclose their vaccination status to their employer. Might eventually be some "show vaccination or submit to regular testing" mandate at some point, but as there is still no free testing available, that too could cause an undue burden to the unvaccinated, and may also not be allowed until such a free testing system can be put in place.

While carrots are doable, sticks are not.

CyBeR

Oof, I wasn't aware they used the indian-made version in the UK. In any case that footnote also mentions that they will decide on whether or not to accept it at a later moment, so it may just be a case of waiting it out a little longer for affected people.

Nagasaki Joe

I applaud Japan, as well as Sweden, Norway and to some extent Denmark, (and I'm sure there are others) for going their own way and experimenting with vaccine requirements and not succumbing to the "pants-on-fire" scaremongering going on in the US (and some other countries like Australia). The US is just one country, it's not the world, and is prone just like any other country to making mistakes and bad decisions, even those supposedly based on science. There's no need to march in lock-step with US policy.

mjm

2 big questions still:

1. Does this apply only to those who can currently enter Japan anyway? If so the net effect is a 4 day saving in quarantine time?
2. How does one process the 10th day test. It says the government must be notified of a negative test in order to waive the rest of the quarantine period. Home test on camera like other countries do? Go to a clinic ho then reports it?

CPH-Flyer

The pdf talks about both 入国 and 帰国 so basically extends to people entering, but the over all entry ban from 159 countries and suspension of all visa waivers are still in place, so for non residents it remains tricky to enter Japan. The net effect is saving 4 days, and the hotel quarantine should that have been applicable for a region visited 14 days prior.

There are not details yet on how to process the test on day 10. But the MySOS app now has the ability to upload documents, so I would expect that to be the method of communication.

mjm

Cool, thank you. I think the language is basically setting itself up for adaptation as the policies evolve. A good sign indeed.
The app having an upload function still points to a somewhat unsophisticated paper based approach as opposed to online monitored tests or electronic submission by the testing facility. I believe that infrastructure will be next once, if, this interim step proves successful.

Overall a great step in the right direction.

freecia

There's different ways of handling health policy. From what I understand, a Japanese employee would expect to share the yearly annual physical results with their employer's health department from blood pressure, obesity indicators, to cancer prognosis. Some would need to get a doctor to provide flu swab test results before returning to work if they took time off for this reason. Both would be unusual for my US non-medical workplace but vaccination status wouldn't be as unusual if I worked in health care or had on-site contracts with health care providers. I've provided vaccination records to schools and upon rare occasion, some for international travel because it'd pose unnecessary burden on their health infrastructure. These policies precede Covid and the current administrations. Despite obesity being a huge health influencer, my US employer pretty much can't pressure me to disclose my weight since it has no bearing on my current job much less my BMI, cholesterol, or diabetes indicators. It probably does statistically impact their healthcare costs and they could offer carrots to disclose such information and attend exercise classes. In fact, I think I recently received one of those opt-in "fitness challenges" along with a clearly stated privacy policy. There are other jobs which can require some disclosures because it is relevant to their jobs. The FAA has a mandatory pilot health check around relevant factors which is meant to ensure they won't nearly die while piloting. Healthcare jobs in US have had vaccine requirements and while I'm sure some work for the military or government like VA, many don't work for the government.

Many of the existing workplace vaccine policies in the US are independent of federal, state, and local governments. They're businesses and can effectively employ a stick in the US. Majority states of both major party affiliations are at will employers, some with allowances for unions and public sector which means they can terminate an employee for any reason. Some businesses have had periods of production stoppage due to Covid outbreaks resulting in lost revenue, have had a difficult time keeping throughput up while meeting Covid related safety protocols, and/or extremely long supply chain estimates due to global trade factors. Most salaried jobs also incur higher healthcare insurance costs which are already a significant cost for a business. It's not scaremongering or even necessarily Covid related to understand that if a US company faces longer term financial trouble because it isn't able to meet production for a variety of reasons including supply, workforce, and timely transport of finished goods then cutting the workforce is one of the commonly used tactics. So if a company is likely to have this kind of trouble, where's the job security? Why work for them if an appealing hiring competitor also has job security which is also tied to having workable semi-predictable healthcare costs? On the Covid front, why potentially incur additional personal medical costs as not all areas still offer easy accessible free testing? Most states don't have paid time off mandates which an employee can use if someone else in the family isn't feeling well and needs care. There's also little financial assistance directed towards corporations at this time. Sure, government employs a large percentage of the workforce as law enforcement, firefighters, teachers, social outreach, and salary people/admins. Several of these already have bargaining power thanks to unions (yes, some even in conservative states). Many tax payers don't work for the government and do work for businesses. No job, no taxable income and some unemployment costs if they qualify and are alive. It will be interesting to see how harder hit states in 2021 are impacted by younger people falling more ill or dying, likely not earning as much or able to pay medical debt & local taxes.

Many of these factors can play out differently with different federal government policies and government sponsored & regulated healthcare. It's been talked over here whether Japan wants or needs foreign workers (especially in certain sectors) and acknowledged that current immigration policies seem to be informed by potential healthcare burdens from more serious cases of Covid and possibly being wary of some variants. Some is also politics for which there's a coming election. I think it is fair to ask what the options are since I'm an outsider and assumptions about social norms, as you point out, do influence policy. I would think if JP employers don't have employee vaccine info, even if they signed up to offer Moderna or other Olympics/work related drives like JAL & ANA, then they'll want to find other ways to keep things moving forward.

ainternational

Judging by how they scrutinize pre departure in your country COVID results, upon entry into Japan, it’s pretty clear they are easy going. There’s no verification of anything. But agree with you - terrible thing to forge. Really no excuse given how readily testing (and vaccinations at least in America) are available these days.

hailstorm

The advisory committee agreed to the government's plan to end all the emergencies and quasi emergencies in place from Friday, with the following conditions:

* Continue promoting measures such as avoiding crowded places, proper ventilation, and refraining from yelling
* Continue to ask for cooperation in getting vaccination
* Lifting of restrictions carefully and in stages, with governors taking measures as required in lieu of government emergency/quasi emergency measures
* Until everyone that wants vaccination can get it, continue promoting scientific measures such as monitoring of carbon dioxide concentration for inspection and ventilation, and further strengthening of medical system
* Continue to monitor for signs of increasing infections, and take proactive action to prevent strain on the medical system

ainternational

Thank you for the info, CPH-Flyer.

Meaning we will need to consider - is the $150 test worth 4 days less in official quarantine….

Sounds like the medical lobby pulled a fast one on us, Suga!

ainternational

So what about booze then?

CPH-Flyer

Tokyo will apparently restrict serving alcohol to the places that already have the Rainbow sign, and only allow it until 8pm or 9pm. So some restrictions to remain.

We can then all start guessing on how many places not having a rainbow sign currently will suddenly start upholding the rules, and stop serving the alcohol they serve now.