Experts move to allay replicon COVID shot fears in Japan amid backlash

A new COVID-19 vaccine has sparked extreme anxiety among parts of the public, leading some businesses to deny services to those who have received the shot and causing at least one clinic to stop giving the vaccine for fear of being harassed.

The health ministry and experts say such fears — fueled by comments circulated both online and offline that the vaccine multiplies in the body indefinitely and as a result causes the “shedding” of its ingredients from an inoculated person to unvaccinated individuals — are unwarranted.

“There’s no scientific evidence that the replicon vaccine will make an infinite number of proteins in the body or its components will be transmitted to others,” the health ministry states on its website.