Mugs' shots: The long-running scam of "If you get the jabs, you may get to unmask"

In March 2021 after a year of Mask Mania in Japan, Finance Minister Taro Aso asked the media how much longer the Japanese would need to keep masking.

“You’re the newspapers, so you’ll know that, right? When are we going to do this till?”

Shortly after this was the start of the long-running scam of telling the TV-trusting Japanese that if enough of them get the jabs, the government might consider relaxing its masking requests.

In April 2021 as Japan started to roll out jabs to the elderly, Japanese TV gleefully broadcast how Israel had lifted it’s outdoor mask mandate thanks to its world-leading vaccination rate.

“Health Ministry: About 5 million people, over half the population, have received 2 doses of vaccine.”

As vaccinations for working-age people properly got underway in Japan in June 2021, PM Yoshihide Suga (left) dangled the carrot of unmasking in front of the covered faces of the population to make them race to get jabbed, while Coronavirus Expert Committee Chairman Shigeru Omi (right) made sure there was no clear finishing line.

PM Suga and Chairman Omi clash at press conference. PM feels anticipation for realising maskless normality. Omi says to “act cautiously for a little longer”

But in August after the majority of people had taken the jabs, Suga and Omi declared that Covid was still more dangerous than the flu and thus would keep its special legal status, so the masks had to stay on.

“It’s clearly different to the flu.” Both Suga and Omi are cautious towards discussing downgrading Covid to Category 5 [same as the flu]

In early February 2022 as Japan’s booster campaign got going, Japanese media widely reported Denmark’s decision to lift its mask mandate and other Covid measures apparently thanks to over 60% of the population getting a booster.

Denmark: From 1st, measures like those restricting restaurant hours and mandating masks in public areas will be lifted.

In April 2022 when Japan’s booster rate was 50% overall and 30% for 20-39 year olds, TV asked several so-called experts when the Japanese would be able to unmask. One of them was TV regular Prof Yoshihito Niki, a recipient of payments from various vaccine makers including Pfizer. He suggested unmasking could be discussed around summer if the booster rate was over 70% overall and over 60% for people in their 20s and 30s. His other random conditions included cases being under 10,000 a day nationwide/1000 a day in Tokyo and with no new variants appearing.

But although Japan didn’t reach Prof Niki’s arbitrary metrics, 65% of Japanese have had a third dose and 68.5% of over 60s a fourth one, putting Japan way ahead of the EU and USA in the booster league table.

But despite (or let’s face it, because) the Japanese have willingly gone out to get jabbed repeatedly, the government has again declared that Covid is still more dangerous than the flu and thus will keep its special status, so the masks must stay on.

Health Minister Kato: downgrading Covid to Category 5 “isn’t realistic at present”

So that brings us to today. According to an anonymous government official, there’s a possibility of mask requests being relaxed depending on (1) the length of protection of the Wuhan/BA.1 vaccine and (2) the approval of a domestically developed oral anti-Covid medication (presumably the one being developed by Shionogi). Of course, Condition 1 is itself dependent on lots of people getting the updated jab in the first place.

So to answer Taro Aso’s question at the start, the Japanese can take off their masks when they stop falling for this obvious scam.

I wouldn’t get my hopes up.