Status of the third doses vaccination of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (BNT162b2) in Japan

A clinical study conducted by Patalon T. et al. will provide the Japanese with medical information on the upcoming third doses of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (BNT162b2) in Japan.

From December 1, 2021, the third doses vaccination of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (BNT162b2) began for healthcare professionals in Japan. According to a report by Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, in December 2021, in principle, 1.04 million medical workers who have passed more than eight months from the second doses vaccination of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine will be the target for the third doses vaccination.

In the third doses vaccination of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine in December 2021, as a clinical study conducted for a period of one year, some health care workers will be investigated for the frequency of side effects, including adverse events after the third doses vaccination, and the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titer by the third doses vaccination compared to the second doses vaccination in Japanese.

In January 2022, an additional 2 million healthcare workers and 1.03 million people, including the elderly and those under the age of 64, will be eligible for a third dose of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine. From March 2021, the COVID-19 mRNA vaccination for occupational areas such as companies and universities is scheduled to begin in Japan.

In Japan, side effects caused by vaccination such as cervical cancer vaccine have become a major domestic problem. It has been reported that the frequency of side effects is higher in Japanese who received the second dose of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (BNT162b2) compared to other countries. Therefore, many Japanese are worried about adverse events and side effects in Japanese due to the third doses vaccination of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (BNT162b2). Therefore, the results of the clinical study conducted by Patalon T. et al. And the results of the clinical study in Japan regarding the third doses vaccination of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine are important for determining the policy of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for Japanese in the future.

Disclosure
The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis.

Published in New England Journal of Medicine at December 22, 2021, by Kyoto@takuma.H