Arab News Japan

Japanese regulatory reform minister KONO Taro, in charge of COVID-19 vaccination coordination has announced that the pre-vaccination COVID-19 screening questionnaire will be translated into 17 languages to aid expats during the vaccination process.

Prevaccination Screening Questionnaire for COVID-19 vaccine translated into 17 languages. https://t.co/6BgNRb8G56

— KONO Taro (@konotaromp) March 29, 2021

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s website, the questionnaire will be translated into English, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Thai, Mongolian, Tagalog, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Burmese, Nepalese language, Khmer, French, Russian and Arabic.

The preliminary examination form asks for the patient’s name, address, medical history over the last month, specifically about whether the patient has experienced symptoms such as fever. They also ask to disclose if they are currently suffering from diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, among others.

The questionnaire also inquires about the patient’s reactions to vaccines in the past, as well as if they have received a vaccine over the last two weeks.

The questionnaire lists a series of other questions, one of which is related to the patient’s understanding of the COVID-19 vaccine process and possible side effects, as listed in the “Instructions for the COVID-19 Vaccine” document that has also been translated.

As part of Japan’s vaccination campaign, people who fall into the elderly category will be scheduled to begin receiving the Pfizer shot as of April 12.

Despite the complexity of the vaccination roll-out globally, Japan aims to secure vaccines for all residents including expats, who will be given the same priority as Japanese people.

Kono emphasized this through his tweet that “Expats and other foreign residents in Japan who are registered with a municipality of residence, and Diplomats are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination,”

Clarification:
Expats and other foreign residents in Japan who are registered with a municipality of residence, and Diplomats are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination. Inoculation questionnaire will be translated into multiple languages. https://t.co/Zw5G6uUVqL

— KONO Taro (@konotaromp) February 4, 2021

Japan is also pushing to secure up to more than 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of June, according to Kono.