My wife and I got the H1N1 vaccine today in Tokyo. We tried to go through our Japanese doctor using our national health insurance but due to the short supply and since there are other people who have been visiting our doctor longer than we have - we were told that they had priority over us and we'd probably not be able to get it for a few months *scratch head*
Frustrated with the Japanese medical system I decided to contact Dr. Shane (picture left) at the American Clinic in Azubu. He's an American doctor who's been practicing in Japan for over 50 years. He's a very nice man and his service is excellent. The downside is he doesn't take national health insurance so I have to pay cash. Bringing the family there can get costly but you gotta do what you gotta do. Just another reason why my wife and I are most likely going to raise our family in Canada. Plus... I like watching hockey and I'm a snowboarding machine.
I'm normally not cool with getting flu shot vaccinations but since we have a 6 month old baby we have to be extra careful about our health. The vaccination available in Japan is manufactured by a Japanese company and is different from the vaccinations in other countries. Dr. Shane is not giving the H1N1 vaccination to children 1-year old and younger because the manufacturer said it might not be safe. So if you have a child under 1-year old there's no chance of getting the vaccination in Japan. I know USA and Canada are giving the vaccination from 6 months old. I wonder what's different between Japan's vaccination and USA & Canada's?
So Dr. Shane gave us the shot - we were in and out in 20 minutes. Cost was 3,600 JPY each. My arm is a bit sore but nothing worse than any other shot. We're supposed to get another dose within the next month. Today's shot was #1 of 2 total H1N1 shots.
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8 Responses to “H1N1 Vaccine in Tokyo” Leave a reply ›
In the USA The most used (vaccine) for H1N1 is a nasal mist. In Canada the only one used is intramuscular injection, Arepanrix (only 1 shot is needed). The reason why the manufacturer in Japan says that it might not be safe is because most vaccines have to go through a test and trial period before it is released. The H1N1 vaccine did not had a long enough period (If you need more info this could be a good reference: http://www.gsk.ca/...ocs-pdf/Arepanrix_PIL_CAPA01v01.pdf ). However, there has been some weird cases were kids have died in the USA already from the vaccine but that is due to other external factors such as bacteria infections already being present and malnutrition, etc.
Japanese national health insurance is expensive and the standards are very low. Just Dona search about raising a child in japan and medical.
I got my shot two days ago, my upper arm is a bit sore but other than that no side effects. Just went down to the health center 15 minutes before they closed, as they have to throw away all the excess vaccine at the end of the day. I was there for 5 minutes and it was completely free :)
Where are you Yonasu? Japan? I'm in Shinjuku and there's no chance of any leftovers.
Another experience that was a big turn off - It took us weeks to set up a checkup for our baby. When we went to the clinic there must have been 30 kids sitting in the waiting room, one kid was lying on the floor and his mother was feeling his head. Why a perfectly healthy baby would be scheduled for a checkup at the same time sick kids were being inspected in beyond me.
We didn't go inside. We canceled the appointment and went to Dr. Shane for the checkup too. We had to pay but I didn't mind one bit since he has enough common sense to make sure our baby was safe.
I'm actually in Sweden and it seems like they never have enough appointments, so there's always plenty left in the last box of the day. I guess it's a bit different when you live in a town with a population of just about 0.5 million compared to Tokyo's almost 13 million :)
I think the blog writer got it wrong. No healthy adults get vaccines now (or not at all) in Japan, as there is a strict order of different risk groups: they vaccinated first hospital employees, then pregnant women, then risk groups with underlying diseases, now they start with little kids. The order is about the same than in all other countries, like Canada, Scandinavian countries, UK etc.
Your facts are mistaken "So if you have a child under 1-year old there's no chance of getting the vaccination in Japan." There are some United States trained physicians in Tokyo that follow the US style vaccination schedule...you just have to "look" or "ask"....there aren't many in Japan so you'd only be making a few calls.
I was going on what my American trained doctor told me.... I stand corrected.