June 24, 2021
To: All students, faculty/staff, and those who work on our campuses
Katsuya Hirose
President, Hosei University
Implementation of On-Campus COVID-19 Vaccination Program
Following the Japanese government’s announcement regarding the commencement of COVID-19 vaccinations in workplaces and the like, Hosei University has decided to launch an on-campus vaccination program.
Numerous people learn, work, play, communicate, and live here in Tokyo, the location of all Hosei campuses. Our university is a place where people gather from far and wide to learn together, work in collaboration, and pursue activities autonomously. Without these person-to-person exchanges, the university loses its whole meaning. The purpose of our vaccination program is to protect everyone’s health, ensure our environment is safe and secure, and enable us, as a university that is essentially a place of exchange, to pursue our learning and self-directed activities free from restrictions as soon as possible.
COVID-19 vaccinations can be accessed through a variety of methods, including mass vaccination centers and local government authorities in the municipality where you are registered. The establishment of the on-campus vaccination program will provide you with an additional option for vaccination.
In some respects, however, public understanding of COVID-19 vaccines is still low. The COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations (3rd edition) issued by the Vaccines Committee of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases state that people need to understand that vaccination, like any other medication, is not completely risk-free, assess the benefits of protection from disease in comparison with the risk of side effects, and decide for themselves whether or not to get vaccinated. Our occupational health manager advises that clinical trials have found the Moderna vaccine, which is to be used at our vaccination program, to be 94.1% effective at preventing the onset of COVID-19, that the vaccine is also anticipated to be effective in preventing serious illness, and that it is important for each and every one of us to understand how safe and effective the vaccine is and judge for ourselves whether or not to get vaccinated.
We each need to gather scientific information on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, then consider and decide for ourselves if we will get vaccinated or not. This decision must not be imposed on us by anyone else under any circumstances. The use of our vaccination program is completely optional: those wishing to use it can do so on an application and reservation basis. Those who decide not to get vaccinated will not be subject to any discriminatory treatment.
I understand that all of you are still living with a variety of restrictions in your daily lives. But surely you also feel you are developing the ability consciously to find creative ways of overcoming the restrictions and continuing your activities, rather than accepting limitations passively. In the course of responding to the pandemic thus far, the university too has gained a strong sense of the potentials and effects of online teaching and learning. We have endeavored to find ways to make up for the restrictions on face-to-face interaction, through the provision of online service points, online student support, online events, and the like. These experiences have shown us that there are some activities that are only possible because they are online, and there is value in continuing these activities even once we return to face-to-face formats. We have also discovered the kinds of teaching, learning, and other activities that can only be done face-to-face, and gained fresh appreciation of their significance. I strongly believe that now is the time to make use of these experiences to further develop our education, research, and student support. Once we have all overcome the current pandemic, let us not simply “return to normal” but rather find our “new selves” and a “new Hosei.”
On-Campus COVID-19 Vaccination Program Implementation Framework
1. Eligibility for Vaccination
Undergraduate students (including those in the correspondence education courses), graduate students, special students such as non-degree students, faculty and administrative staff members (all those in a relationship of employment), temporary dispatch workers, other people working at campuses of Hosei University (subcontractors, etc.)
2. Vaccination Location
Fujimizaka Building, Ichigaya Campus
3. Vaccine Type
Moderna vaccine. Two doses are required, at an interval of four weeks.
4. Vaccination Schedule (tentative)
(1) First vaccine dose: late July to early August
(2) Second vaccine dose: late August to early September
* Start may be delayed depending on application procedures to related government organs and local authorities and vaccine delivery schedules.
* Vaccination procedures and other details will be announced as soon as they are finalized. In principle, people will be required to make an appointment for their second dose on the same day of the week four weeks after their first dose.
5. Vaccination Choice
Vaccination is entirely optional. Please make your own judgments regarding application and reservation.
6. Vaccination Trends Survey
We request your cooperation with a vaccination trends survey designed to ascertain the number of people being vaccinated. Details will be communicated separately.
We will now proceed with preparations for the on-campus vaccination program. Updates will be announced as the preparations advance, so kindly refrain from making inquiries about progress in the meantime.
■Reference Materials
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: COVID-19 Vaccination Q&A (in Japanese)
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Information on COVID-19 Vaccines
- Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases: COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations (in Japanese)
- Information regarding COVID-19 Vaccines (from Occupational Health Manager/Ichigaya Campus Physician) (in Japanese)