Japan Association of New Economy Representative Director Mickey Mikitani and the business leaders and professionals listed below have proposed the following urgent call for vaccination measures to conquer COVID-19.

Number of proposal supporters : 61
< Professionals >
・Tasuku Honjo, Deputy Director-General and Distinguished Professor, Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study, Director, Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Immunobiology / CCII, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University 
・Hisataka Kobayashi, M.D., Ph.D. National Cancer Institute/ NIH
・Jun Murai, Professor, Keio University
・Shinya Yamanaka, Kyoto University Center for iPS Cell Research and Application Director / Professor
・Yoshitake Yokokura, Honorary president, Japan Medical Association

< The business leaders, Others >
・Ichiro Asahina, CEO, Aoyama Shachu Corp.
・Susumu Fujita, President, CyberAgent, Inc.
・Koji Funatsu, Chairman & CEO, Transcosmos Inc.
・Noboru Hachimine, Founder & Chairman, Digital Holdings, Inc.
・Chikatomo Hodo, Senior Corporate Advisor, Accenture Japan Ltd.
・Yoshiharu Hoshino, CEO, Hoshino Resorts
・Masahiko Ichiriki, Representative Director, KAHOKU SHIMPO PUBLISHING CO.
・Hiroyuki Igarashi, LDH WORLD Chief Creative Officer, EXILE HIRO
・Sorato Ijichi, Founder & CEO, Creww Inc.
・Tomio Ikoma, President, With us Corporation
・Takashi Inoue, President & CEO, LIFULL Co.,Ltd.
・Tomoharu Inoue, President, Inoue Business Consultants Co., Ltd.
・Mina Ishiwatari, President, Hoppy Beverage Co., Ltd.
・Shinichiro Ito, Member of the Board, Chairman, ANA Holdings Inc.
・Shigeru Iwasaki, Chairman, Nihon Cyber Defence Co., Ltd., 4th Chief of Staff, Joint Staff (Retd. General, JASDF)
・Susumu Iwata, CEO, YRGLM Inc.
・Kiyoshi Kanazashi, Chairman, Tokyu Fudosan Holdings Corporation
・Toru Kenjo, Representative Director, GENTOSHA INC.
・Tadao Kikuchi, Chairman, Royal Holdings, Inc.,
・Yoshitaka Kitao, Representative Director, President & CEO, SBI Holdings, Inc.
・Akiyoshi Koji, Chairman of the Board, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.
・Noriyuki Matsuda, Founder, CEO, Sourcenext Corporation
・Hiroya Masuda, Director and Representative executive Officer, President & CEO, JAPAN POST HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
・Mickey Mikitani, Chairman & CEO, Rakuten Group, Inc., Representative Director, Japan Association of New Economy
・Masanori Mochida, President and Representative Director of Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.
・Takayuki Morita, President and CEO ( Representative Director ), NEC Corporation
・Seiji Nakata, President and CEO, Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
・Takeshi (Tak) Niinami, President & Chief Executive Officer, Suntory Holdings Limited
・Akio Nitori, Chairman and CEO, Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd.
・Yoshinobu Noma, CEO, Kodansha Ltd.
・Hirofumi Nomoto, Chairman of The Board & Representative Director, Tokyu Corporation
・Nagaharu Okamoto, CEO, Mirai Works Inc.
・Yasuhiko Okamoto, Chief Executive Officer / Representative Director, LIKE Co., Ltd.
・Reiko Okutani, Representative Director Chairman and CEO, CCC Support and Consulting Co.,Ltd.
・Tetsuya Sanada, Director and Chairman, KLab Inc.
・Daisuke Sasaki, CEO, freee K.K.
・Koki Sato, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Septeni Holdings Co. Ltd.
・Takashi Shibata, President and CEO, Taiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
・Ryusuke Shigetomi , Managing Executive Officer, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd.,
・Tsuguyoshi Shimizu, Chairman, All Nippon Hotel Association / ANHA
・Wayoh (Kazuhiro) Suzuki, Chairman, Representative Member of Cisco Systems G.K.
・Shigeharu Suzuki, Chairman, Japan Securities Dealers Association
・Yasuhisa Takatani, President, E-guardian Inc.
・Hisao Taki, Chairman and Director, Gurunavi, Inc.
・Yuya Taketani, Representative Director and CEO, Gunosy Inc.
・Genichi Tamatsuka, President and CEO, Digital Hearts Holdings Co., Ltd.
・Kohzo Tashima, President, Japan Football Association
・Shingo Tsuji, President and CEO, MORI Building co., Ltd.
・Yosuke Tsuji, Founder & CEO, Money Forward, Inc.
・Keisuke Tada, Chairman, All Japan Ryokan Hotel Association
・Shinichi Ueno, President & Group CEO, ASATSU-DK INC.
・Naoki Yamazaki, Chairman, UP-FRONT GROUP Co., Ltd.
・Hirotake Yajima, Representative Director, President & CEO, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc.
・Kiwamu Yokokawa, Chairman, Takakuramachi coffee Inc.,
・Koichiro Yoshida, CEO, CrowdWorks Inc.
・Takashi Yuri, President & CEO, TechMatrix Corporation

An Urgent Call for Vaccination Measures to Conquer COVID-19

Current situation

1. Outside of Japan, many governments are sharing timely information pertaining to vaccine safety issues such as potential side effects as well as the benefits of vaccination. They are seeing that the benefits outweigh the risks, and these governments are implementing swift vaccination programs and seeing success in controlling the number of COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile in Japan, there is no firm target for when vaccination of the general population will be completed, and therefore no clear vision on how to balance the prevention of further infection with the resumption of economic activities.

2. At the prime ministerial press conference held on April 23 it was stated that, “The government is pursuing a vaccination schedule through which all seniors who request a vaccine will receive both doses from their local government administration by the end of July.” A simple calculation reveals that in order to achieve this, some 800,000 vaccines will need to be administered per day. (For reference: It has been reported that the United States is implementing vaccinations at the rate of 4 million per day.)

3. Taking into consideration that the above schedule is only for Japan’s seniors, the government and local administrations must not be constrained by outdated thinking and must make effective use of private sector expertise: There must be a coordinated and concerted effort to implement the concrete vaccination measures outlined below as soon as possible.

Concrete measures

1. Fundamental revision of vaccination operational plans (especially revision of the systemic overreliance on public health centers and local governments governed by laws and regulations such as the Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response)
   1) Revision of governance
   Leverage private sector expertise to develop the supply chain management system. Establish an advisory board made up of experts from the private sector that reports directly to the prime minister.

   2) Acceleration of vaccine application procedures
   Avoid focusing exclusively on the physical distribution of vouchers as a prerequisite to vaccination. Implement simple application procedures, such as telephone and online applications and direct check-in at vaccination centers. Build the operation at speed, including appropriate use of paper records.

   3) Expansion of scope for vaccination operations
   i. Strengthen cooperation with medical professionals and facilitate vaccinations at facilities such as doctor’s offices and medical clinics.
   ii. Administer vaccines at parking lots using a drive-through system and large-scale facilities.
   iii. Utilize existing systems for seasonal influenza vaccinations (ex. administration on a company-by-company basis and other measures).

   4) Reinforcement and streamlining of vaccination operations
   i. Request cooperation from medical professionals other than general practitioners (dental practitioners, pharmacists, emergency medical workers, medical students, etc.).
   ii. Implement financial support measures such as compensation and incentive systems for those cooperating with above initiatives 3) and 4) i. (ex. a remuneration of 5,000 yen per inoculation.)
   iii. Enact operational environment improvements, addressing issues such as the streamlining of emergency systems at vaccination centers and liability protection for medical professionals.

   5) Measures to expand the scope of vaccine recipients
   i. Examine the feasibility of single-dose vaccinations.
   ii. Establish a framework to make decisions on issues such as optimal vaccination order based on precise understanding of AI-driven cluster analysis, infection status and other key factors.
   
   

2. Vaccine approvals
   Implement special approval procedures for COVID-19 vaccines developed by firms such as Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, based on safety and efficacy data from Europe, North America and other countries.

3. Development of an exit strategy that balances the prevention of further infection with the resumption of economic activities
   1) Encourage residents and visitors in Japan who have received vaccinations to resume economic activities, while also managing records of those who are vaccinated. (Paper records are acceptable.)

   2) Permit international travel for those who have received vaccines approved in Europe or North America and to those who have received vaccines in Japan. Also approve visas for accompanying family members and dependents.

   3) Improve operations to boost capacity for border controls at airports and other points of entry to Japan for both Japanese and non-Japanese people, for example, by developing a rapid PCR testing system.

4. Future infrastructure
   Establish and maintain a framework supported by industry, government and academia in order to detect if vaccine efficacy is decreasing over time or due to new strains, and act with appropriate measures such as the additional administration of vaccines.

Approval form for this call（Japanese Only＊）