The COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc over the past year worldwide should be a wake-up call for Japan and other countries, telling them that their social, economic and health care systems need to be constructed on the premise that pandemics will occur periodically.
To protect its people, Japan needs to invest in vaccine research, development and production at home to secure necessary supplies without being influenced by international politics. And, in this current pandemic era, vaccines have proved to be an effective diplomacy tool.
After the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Japan in January 2020, the country went through its so-called first wave in spring, its second wave in summer and its third and biggest wave since November.