SVG: Japan meets its sustainable vaccination goal
Before Covid was finally downgraded in early May, Japan had managed to achieve the dubious distinction of being the most boosted country on earth. Since the lifting of all formal Covid restrictions, the government has been conducting a fourth booster campaign aimed mainly at Japan’s 36 million over 65s. So far, 33.4% of them have already taken up the offer. So how is Japan still able to get lipid nanoparticles into the bloodstream of so many senior citizens even now? A short segment from regional TV in Fukuoka syndicated on Yahoo! News exemplifies the marketing techniques Japanese TV has been using for the last 2.5 years.
The crew visits a vaccination centre in Fukuoka City. The lady in the hat is asked why she came to get her 6th shot.
Yep, even though cases are now reported weekly not nightly, they can still be used to scare the elderly into action. It worked in the last 5 waves, so there’s no reason to think it won’t work now. Next, the lady in the pink mask is asked if other people she knows are getting the jabs.
Her response gets at two aspects of Japanese society that the media has leveraged expertly: 1) social conformity and 2) the cult of safetyism. And what better way to make people fearful enough to get the jabs for “piece of mind” than to introduce an authority figure who grossly exaggerates the risk of Covid? Calling Dr Ito!
Up to 4 times deadlier than the flu! So what should the elderly do, Doc?
And that’s it. Japanese TV has been running variations of the same vax promotional material since the jabs became available: “Cases are rising!” “Everyone is getting the vaccine.” “The vaccine will give you piece of mind.” “You should get the vaccine. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”
Compared with the military-level psyops used in the west, Japan’s techniques might seem unimpressive. But by February 2023, Japan had administered twice as many boosters per capita than western countries that had fascistically persecuted the unvaxed. So what Japan’s vax promotion lacks in sophistication it more than makes up for in sustainability.
And when autumn comes, they’ll do exactly the same thing again for the 5th booster campaign.
Of course, no XBB booster exists yet, but when it does, the Japan government will procure lots of it and the public will inject it, no questions asked. And leftover shots will be used in the 6th booster campaign next spring/summer, like the leftover omicron boosters are being used now. This endless jabbing requires a suitable tagline.
“Sustainable vaccination: it ends when you do.”
There is a term for this, believe it or not: malicious compliance. Malicious compliance is when one follows the rules with out fail to the extent it disrupts the work of those demanding the rules be complied with. This is not a joke some comedian came up with, it is an actual term used by the US government. Apparently, it can earn government employees bad marks on their evaluations.
We did this on ship every time they cracked down on the common practice of addressing fellow watch standers and those we worked closely with by just their family name or nick name. The zeros....ummm...er Officers would get angry if they over heard us call out something like, “Hey, Smitty, pass me the crescent hammer, will ya?”, and demand that we address by rank. So we did the following; “Fireman Recruit Jones, lay to Machinist Mate 3rd class Smith and inform Machinist Mate 3rd Class Smith that Machinist Mate Second Class Kitsune desires that that Machinist Mate 3rd Class Smith give Fireman Recruit Jones a crescent hammer so that Fireman Recruit Jones can deliver it to Machinist Mate 2 Class Kitsune.” This would go for about a week and when we returned to addressing everyone as before; “Hey Smitty”. “Yeah, Kit?”, everyone breathed a sigh of relief until the next crack down.
If we had done this from the beginning of the panic, I doubt we would be where we are today. Scratch that. Many in Japan did and still are, though they believed it.
People here are so worried and consumed by COVID-19 yet they don't take the time to learn about it. If you were concerned enough to wear a mask outside and get 6+ jabs I would think you would care enough to research and learn that neither the mask or the jab help prevent COVID infections.