Article ID：0000225935Updated on：2022年3月29日更新印刷ページ表示

COVID-19: Vaccination Information

About the COVID-19 Vaccine
First and Second Doses
Third Dose (Booster)
Vaccine Costs
Relief System for Injury to Health with Vaccination based on the Immunization Act
Consultation Hotline

About the COVID-19 Vaccines

The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing virus contraction, as well as preventing the development of severe cases. We encourage those who would like to be vaccinated to do so as soon as possible.

First and Second Doses

(1) Eligibility

Those 12 years and older who have a resident record in Hiroshima City are eligible to receive the vaccine.

As a rule, you will receive your vaccine in the municipality where your resident record is registered; however, those with extenuating circumstances, such as those who have been transferred for their job without their family, will be eligible to receive the vaccine in a municipality other than their own as exceptional cases. As a rule, you must apply in advance to the municipality where you want to receive your vaccination.

Note: with the introduction of the Hiroshima Regional Urban Area vaccination system on August 1, 2021, those with a resident record in Hiroshima Prefecture do not need to apply in advance to the City of Hiroshima, even if you do not have a resident record there.

(2) Vaccines available and their effectiveness

Currently, the vaccines used by the City of Hiroshima for the first two doses are made by Pfizer and Takeda/Moderna.

Details

Category	Pfizer	Takeda/Moderna
Effectiveness	Approx. 95% effective at preventing COVID-19	Approx. 94% effective at preventing COVID-19
Period between doses	Generally, the second dose is received 3 weeks from the first dose. If it has been more than 3 weeks since your first dose, please get your second dose as soon as possible.	Generally, the second dose is received 4 weeks from the first dose. If it has been more than 4 weeks since your first dose, please get your second dose as soon as possible.

Note: for information about the AstraZeneca vaccine, please see the Hiroshima Prefecture website＜外部リンク＞ (Japanese).

(3) Side effects after vaccination

Side effects such as pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, and similar are often seen after vaccination.

In extremely rare instances, there have been reports of anaphylaxis caused by allergic reactions.

In Japan, those who receive vaccines will be kept at the vaccination site or medical institution for 15-30 minutes after their vaccination so as to ensure a quick response in case of anaphylaxis. In the unlikely event that the vaccine causes anaphylaxis, patients will receive swift onsite treatment.

Percentage of occurrence	Pfizer	Takeda/Moderna
More than 50%	Pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache	Pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain
10-50%	Muscle pain, chills, joint pain, diarrhea, fever, swelling at the injection site	Joint pain, chills, nausea/vomiting, lymphadenosis, fever, swelling at the injection site, redness/erythema
1-10%	Nausea, vomiting	Pain at the injection site one week after vaccination

For more details regarding side effects, please see the following information released by the Pharmacueticals and Medical Devices Agency (Japanese).

Pfizer: Cormirnaty Intramuscular Injection＜外部リンク＞ (Pharmacueticals and Medical Devices Agency)
Takeda/Moderna: Spikevax Intramuscular Injection＜外部リンク＞ (Pharmacueticals and Medical Devices Agency)

Note that physicians are obligated to report to the Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare when someone who has been vaccinated presents symptoms set down by the Minister.

Third Dose (Booster)

While the vaccines used in Japan are highly effective at preventing COVID-19, as time passes, their infection prevention abilities and ability to prevent the development of severe cases in the elderly population slowly decrease. As such, beginning on December 1, 2021, we have started to implement a third dose (booster) in addition to the first and second doses.

(1) Eligibility

Those 18 years and older who have a resident record in Hiroshima City are eligible to receive this vaccine.

(2) Vaccines available and their effectiveness

For the booster, the Pfizer or Takeda/Moderna vaccines are used regardless of the vaccine receieved for the first/second dose.

The third dose boosts the effectiveness of infection prevention, as well as prevention of the development of severe cases, compared to those who have not received the third dose.

Category	Pfizer	Takeda/Moderna
Effectiveness	According to reports by Pfizer, boosters proved to be 95.6% effective at preventing COVID-19 compared to those who did not receive a booster. See Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare＜外部リンク＞ page for more details (Japanese).	According to US clinical trials, neutralizing antibody levels 28 days after booster vaccination were higher than those found after the second dose of the vaccination, and it is expected to have a steady effectiveness. See Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare＜外部リンク＞ page for more details (Japanese).
Injection amount	Same amount as first/second doses	Half the amount of first/second doses
Period between doses	Six months after the second dose Note: if you have contracted COVID-19 after your second dose, the national government has tentatively recommended the waiting period between infection and booster shots to be three months. However, even in cases such as these, six or more months must still have passed between your second dose and booster shot. For more information, please see the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Welfare＜外部リンク＞ page (Japanese).

Category

Pfizer

Takeda/Moderna

Effectiveness

According to reports by Pfizer, boosters proved to be 95.6% effective at preventing COVID-19 compared to those who did not receive a booster. See Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare＜外部リンク＞ page for more details (Japanese).

According to US clinical trials, neutralizing antibody levels 28 days after booster vaccination were higher than those found after the second dose of the vaccination, and it is expected to have a steady effectiveness. See Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare＜外部リンク＞ page for more details (Japanese).

Injection amount

Same amount as first/second doses

Half the amount of first/second doses

Period between doses

Six months after the second dose

Note: if you have contracted COVID-19 after your second dose, the national government has tentatively recommended the waiting period between infection and booster shots to be three months. However, even in cases such as these, six or more months must still have passed between your second dose and booster shot. For more information, please see the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Welfare＜外部リンク＞ page (Japanese).

For information about the effectiveness and side effects of mixed vaccinations (Pfizer > Pfizer > Moderna), please see here.

(3) Side effects after vaccination

It has been confirmed that compared to the side effects after the first two doses of both the Pfizer and Takeda/Moderna vaccines, the tendency for negative side effects to occur was about the same.

However, there is a higher tendency for swelling of the lymph nodes to occur compared to the first two doses.

Percentage of occurrence	Pfizer (After second dose→after booster)	Takeda/Moderna (After second dose→after booster)
50% or more	Aches and pains (78.3%→83.0%), fatigue (59.4%→63.7%)	Aches and pains (88.3%→83.8%), fatigue (65.4%→58.7%), headache (58.8%→55.1%)
10-50%	Headache (54.0%→48.4%), muscle pain (39.3%→39.1%), chills (37.8%→29.1%), joint pain (23.8%→25.3%)	Muscle pain (58.1%→49.1%), joint pain (42.9%→41.3%), chills (44.3%→35.3%), lymphadenosis (14.2%→20.4%)
1-10%	Fever of 38℃ or above (16.4%→8.7%), swelling (6.8%→8.0%), redness (5.6%→5.9%), lymphadenosis (0.4%→5.2%)	Fever of 38℃ or above (15.5%→6.6%), swelling/induration (12.3%→5.4%), redness/erythema (8.7%→4.8%)

(4) Mixed vaccinations

For booster shots, you can receive the Pfizer or Takeda/Moderna vaccine regardless of which vaccine you received for your first two doses (mixed vaccination).

Effectiveness and side effects of mixed vaccination (Pfizer>Pfizer>Moderna)

According to the February 18, 2022 interim report by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare research team, those who received the Moderna vaccine for their booster after receiving the Pfizer vaccine for their first two doses had a higher antibody level than those who received Pfizer for their booster.

However, it was also reported that those who received mixed vaccinations were more likely to experience post-vaccination side effects such as fever and fatigue compared to those who received Pfizer for their booster.

Side effect	Pfizer	Moderna
Fever of 37.5℃ or above	39.8%	68.0%
Aches and pains at the injection site	91.6%	93.8%
Fatigue	69.1%	78.0%
Headache	55.0%	69.6%

Sick leave	Pfizer	Moderna
Percentage of those who took sick leave	8.83%	10.30%

(Created based on sources from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare research team. The percentage of those who took sick leave was surveyed for the week after receiving the booster shot.)

In addition, research in the UK has shown that for those who received the Pfizer vaccine for their first/second doses, there are sufficient increases in antibody levels whether the booster received was mixed or not.

Vaccine combination	Antibody levels
Pfizer>Pfizer>Moderna	Rise in antibody levels
Pfizer>Pfizer>Pfizer	Rise in antibody levels

Vaccination Costs

The COVID-19 vaccine is free.

Note: there have been cases of scammers pretending to be municipal or health center workers and asking for money for vaccinations. We will NEVER ask you for money for the COVID-19 vaccine or to make an appointment. If you receive any suspicious phone calls, hang up IMMEDIATELY and report it to the police.

Relief System for Injury to Health with Vaccination based on the Immunization Act

Regarding medical fees for any health problems which arise due to the vaccine, should these problems be certified by the national government, this system will provide relief for medical fees, disability pension, etc.