Tokyo Mom Creates COVID-19 Vaccination Database Amidst the Information Void

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Balancing a new software programming job with caring for a young child in Tokyo, LaShawn Toyoda has seen growing confusion in her social media feeds among non-Japanese speakers about how to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The 36-year-old former English teacher, who recently completed an intensive coding course as part of a pandemic-driven career change, decided she had the skills to help ease concerns amid a lack of clear guidance from officials.

“There was no news available in any language other than Japanese about when they would be able to get vaccinated, how or where they might get vaccinated,” said Toyoda, who moved from Maryland in the United States to Tokyo a decade ago.

“I told my husband, watch our daughter, I have to make something.”

Hours later, Toyoda launched its Find a Doc, a health database that helps non-Japanese-speaking people find clinics with COVID-19 vaccine doses to spare after cancellations from priority elderly patients.

The database, which was published on June 13, has rapidly grown from just two clinics to nearly two with information in 19 languages.

Toyoda’s Twitter channel @theyokohamalife is filled with thanks and anecdotes of people who got their footage through the site, which she said has been used by more than 36,000 people.

The site’s popularity highlights concern about the slow release of vaccination in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, where the Olympics are due to begin in less than a month.

Only 23% of the population has received at least one dose, according to Reuters tracking, one of the lowest levels among major economies.

After a slow start to the vaccination campaign, with limited supplies reaching medical workers and the elderly, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to fully vaccinate the elderly by the end of this month and all adults by November.

To speed up the process, the government has handed over more control to municipalities and businesses to set up their own systems and centers for managing footage. Read more

This means that availability, especially to the general public, may vary widely depending on where a person works and lives.

Toyoda was rehabilitated after closing the school where she had been studying part-time during the capital emergency last year, and now works as an engineer at a US software company. She booked her first vaccine through a clinic in its database last week.

The site has received extensive support, with more experienced programmers from Google (GOOGL.O) for Alphabet Inc, Mercari Inc (4385.T), and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) volunteering to add features and make it more secure.

The joint effort echoes the activism of the online community in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster when there was a similar perceived void in official information.

Peter Franken, who co-founded the volunteer group SafeCast, which began collecting radiation readings across Japan, but has since expanded to include tracking air quality and other quality of life factors.

“You can fill the void with citizen work.”

Additional reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Edited by Myung Kim and Jane Wardle

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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