I read an article about how flu cases are reaching warning levels this year and 1700+ schools have already temporarily closed due to the flu. (I don’t have the link anymore but it was Japan Times article)
Coming from the US, I’m used to almost everyone getting a yearly flu shot. Now in Japan I realize that only very young children or older folks get them – anyone have any idea why that is? Even as it’s spreading as it is right now, I see no effort to push the average citizen to get the vaccine.
Just wondering if anyone has any insight, or if anyone here has gotten the shot anyway.
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> Coming from the US, I’m used to almost everyone getting a yearly flu shot.
[For the U.S. population during the 2021–22 flu season… flu vaccination coverage among adults ≥18 years was 49.4%](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-2022estimates.htm).
Most people I know get them and most companies offer money for it. I know a few people where the doctor comes to the office and jabs everyone
It’s been the opposite for me. Most people I know get them whereas in my home country only kids and old people did.
I think the opposite. Seemingly everyone here gets flu shots. The young and old especially.
I never got the flu shot in the US lol . Get them here tho .
A lot of people get the flu shot here. The problem
is timing this year. The flu shot protects you for about 3 months, so most places will start offering it in November to protect you over the worst of winter.
Unfortunately, the flu season started early, so a lot of people haven’t had their shots yet (which probably also why it’s been quite bad).
???? Everyone I know here gets them. My daughters both got them last week through their companies. My wife and her sister got theirs a month ago. I don’t know about US but it feels like Japan has high consciousness about and acceptance of vaccines of all types.
My one year old son and my elderly in-laws have all received their flu vaccines. Me and my husband haven’t yet because my town is right now focusing on the more vulnerable population. This is usually how yearly vaccines are distributed here. We receive a ticket in the mail from town hall that we take to a clinic.
They get them, but the flu season usually doesn’t start in the late summer. Flu shots are offered in November. As it’s an out of season outbreak and there aren’t enough shots available yet, they’re being offered to vulnerable individuals first.
I never get the flu shot and never did back home. I would say back home that was definitely the norm but I am in the clear minority here.
Japanese people on average (in my experience) are more diligent about yearly shots.
My guess for the reason you have this impression is that you probably don’t know most people in Japan.
I haven’t got mine yet this year. And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t get them, but I also don’t really talk to people about flu vaccines.
Never got one from my recollection. Think it depends from where you are that it differs. I think in Germany recommendation is mostly for kids and the elderly, kids mainly because they are the mosts spreaders with schools and kindergarden.
Flu shots were not a thing in my home country, I didn’t even know they exists until I moved to Japan, so getting it never becomes a habit for me. I did take it for the years my wife was pregnant, but after that I guess laziness took over.
>Even as it’s spreading as it is right now, I see no effort to push the average citizen to get the vaccine.
Well, if it’s spreading that much, then it’s possible that it’s not even covered by the current vaccine.
Flu vaccines aren’t like polio or mumps vaccines. They only cover certain strains every year, and if there’s an outbreak of a strain that wasn’t included, there’s really not much that can be done besides masking and hand washing. The schools effected might also be having students eat at separate desks.
Only getting them because I have small children. idk why but I usually have quite the reaction with the flu shot, last time had a fever and stuff, worse than the covid vaccine reaction.
People around me in France usually take it, but I know a lot who don’t. Here I get mixed results. I’d say less than 50% of people around me get the shot unless 60+ years old.
My workplace offers flu vaccinations every year, and most people take them…
Similar to others in this thread: I experience the opposite. I don’t know anyone in my home country (Holland) that ever got a flu shot. I wanted to check some statistics on this and while I couldn’t find any concrete numbers it seems flu shots are only offered for free to folks over 60.
In Japan most people react surprised if I say I’ve never had a flu shot in my life.
I don’t get vaccinated now. By and large I find them unnecessary.
Because it costs 3000-3500 per person, and it weighs heavy on the budget for a family of 4 or 5
Influenza shots don’t prevent influenza and as they are made many months in advance, the vaccine may not contain the best antibodies for the main strains that occur in that years winter.
In recent years there have been some supply issues regarding flu shots. Many local clinics start bookings at the beginning of this month ONLY for at risk people (need a special paper which sometimes the ward office doesn’t distribute in time). Then from the middle of the month its anyone else who wants one. For the last 2 years we could only get flu shots for our kids, this year we could all get one but its not until December and could be cancelled if there is a supply issue.
We’re in Nagoya and this happens every year.
I actually thought that almost everyone got it…
In my 18 years living in Japan, I’ve had noro 6 times, COVID twice, man-cold 20 times but, flu never.
I don’t bother with the shots because I know I’m an immune super gaijin.
The annual influenza vaccination rates in Japan are typically around 50-60% for children and 40-70% for the elderly.
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10906000/000985405.pdf
Flu season started unusually early this year. Most people don’t start getting the flu shot until October so that it will last through the season. The flu shot usually lasts about 6 months. Flu season in Japan usually begins in December before peaking in January or February.
Children need to get two shots compared to one shot for adults so that usually makes it less likely that children are fully covered.
Like many others it was the opposite for me. I’d never heard of anyone getting that in the UK and learned about it after moving to Japan and lots of people at work getting it.
My company offers it and most take advantage.
Only got the shot once I think, then never again. Only got the flu once in the last decade, so I think my immune system is doing just fine on it’s own.
Virtually everyone I know here gets them — or says they do. Many companies arrange the option for their staff.