【文字起こし（英訳付き）】2024/11/12 大石が聞く：ワクチンメーカー社員、接種後3日後に急死…同僚は告発本を出版

■Oishi: This is the “Oishi hears” corner, where we get to the bottom of things. This time, we will discuss the ripple effects of a book written by an employee of a major pharmaceutical company that manufactures COVID-19 vaccine. What are the thoughts of the father, the bereaved family of the male employee who died three days after being inoculated?

■Oishi: My name is Oishi from CBC Television.
■Kageyama: I am Kageyama. Good morning. Thank you for your help.

- Hitoshi Kageyama lives in Tochigi Prefecture. -

■Oishi: Is this your son?
■Kageyama: This is Kodai.
- Displayed on the small altar was a portrait of his late son. -
■Kageyama: I know I sound like a foolish parent, but I think he was a nice guy.

- Kodai Kageyama passed away suddenly three years ago (September 2021), three days after he was inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine. He was 26 years old at the time. -

■Kageyama: He was vaccinated on Friday, September 10, 2021, had a fever, was sick and slept on Saturday, but he was a little less sick on Sunday, so he was taking it easy.
■Oishi: So you are saying that it was on Monday that he passed away?
■Kageyama: Yes, that is correct. It means that he did not wake up on Monday morning.

- His cause of death is presumed to be heart failure. -

■Kageyama: At first, after various investigations at the hospital where he was taken by ambulance, I was told that they could find no cause of death. The next day, the autopsy results showed only what appeared to be an enlarged heart.

- Kodai was in good health with no pre-existing medical conditions. Although the government did not find a link between the vaccine and his death, it approved his application for relief in August of last year. -

■Kageyama: I had the feeling that if he had not been vaccinated at that time, he would still be alive and well. Since the time of his death, I can only think of the vaccine as the cause. In the midst of a global pandemic, I had the feeling that vaccinations would protect “life”. We were in a situation where we were ignorant and uneducated and vaccinated as we were told. However, I now wonder if that was really the right thing to do.

- Kodai, who was himself involved in the vaccine business. He was working as a medical representative (MR) at Meiji Seika Pharma, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Japan. -

■Oishi: Here is my business card.
■Kageyama: He was really happy when he received the job offer. I think he wanted to help people. I think he thought it would be good if he could be part of that role, delivering medicine and taking care of people's bodies.

- Then, his father, Hitoshi, took out a book. -

■Oishi: It was authored by people called Team K. This “K” is the “K” of Kodai, right?
■Kageyama: That's right.

- The book, which presents questions about the safety of COVID-19 vaccine, was written anonymously by colleagues at Meiji Seika Pharma in the wake of Kodai's death. The book, which purports to be an indictment from inside the pharmaceutical company, has received a strong response and has already been reprinted seven times. -

- What is “we don't want to sell” in the title of the book?　It is about a new vaccine called Replicon Vaccine(Self-amplifying mRNA vaccine), which his employer, Meiji Seika Pharma, launched in Japan last month for the first time in the world. -

- Originally, COVID-19 vaccine contained messenger RNA, the genetic information of the virus. This creates a part of the virus in the body, which recognizes it as a foreign substance and becomes immune. The Replicon vaccine(Self-amplifying mRNA vaccine) is designed to increase the amount of the messenger RNA itself that enters the body, and it is said to have long-lasting effects in small doses, but its safety is questionable. -

■Kageyama: I think the authors really had a lot of conflicts. The fact that they published this in such a situation must be a very strong feeling.

- Against this backdrop, Meiji Seika Pharma placed a full-page advertisement in newspapers last month calling attention to claims without scientific support, and announced plans to file a lawsuit for defamation against groups that continue to criticize vaccines. -

■Oishi: There is a person who openly object to that replicon vaccine(Self-amplifying mRNA vaccine).

- Kazuhiro Haraguchi, a member of the House of Representatives of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is one of those targeted in the lawsuit filed by Meiji Seika Pharma. -

■Oishi: What is your perception of this replicon vaccine(Self-amplifying mRNA vaccine)?
■Haraguchi: I believe this is an unknown. I have been asking the government how they have ensured the safety of the formulation that the messenger RNA amplifies, but I have not received an answer. As a member of parliament, I say give us the data we need to check the government.

- He himself developed malignant lymphoma after 3 vaccinations. He believes this is also related to COVID-19 vaccine and has repeatedly stated that the safety of the vaccine should be verified. -

■Oishi: Aren't you worried that such a statement by you, a former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and a member of the Diet, might have a major impact on society?
■Haraguchi: No, it is the opposite. It is much more dangerous that everyone is vaccinating while leaving the possibility of danger.

- As for the policy of filing lawsuits by large corporations -

■Haraguchi: It is our responsibility to protect the lives of the people, and we are just doing that.
■Oishi: So you are not at fault at all in your own mind?
■Haraguchi: No, I am not.

- Meiji Holdings, Japan's largest manufacturer and seller of vaccines, is also preparing to file a lawsuit. -

■Kawamura: As you are all aware, we are facing a difficult situation due to the new type of vaccine. As a result, we have revised our initial shipment forecast to less than half, and both net sales and operating income have been reduced.

- At yesterday's earnings conference, the company announced that it had lowered its sales forecast for the pharmaceutical division, including the Replicon vaccine(Self-amplifying mRNA vaccine), by 10 billion yen from its original plan, to take into account the impact of the anti-vaccine campaign. -

■Kawamura: I think it is not very desirable to prevent others from receiving the vaccination or to spread untrue information on social networking sites. I believe that coronas will probably continue to be transmitted in the future, so we will continue to inform people about the safety and efficacy of our products in the coming year and beyond.

- With routine vaccinations for the elderly being resumed, when will the safety controversy over COVID-19 vaccine be put to rest? An explanation from the government that is acceptable to everyone is required. -

■Host: There has never been a move to publish a book of accusations from within a pharmaceutical company, has there?
■Oishi: Yes. The person who triggered this was Kageyama Kodai, 26, who worked for a major pharmaceutical company and was in charge of MR, a sales representative who sells pharmaceutical products. He died three days after vaccination. The autopsy revealed that he had acute heart failure, and in August 2023, he was also certified by the government under the Immunization Health Damage Relief System. Kohdai's colleagues published a book claiming that they did not want to sell their company's vaccines, which became a big topic.

■Host: There has also been an impact on the vaccine itself, hasn't there?
■Oishi: That's right. There has been an impact on the management of Meiji Holdings, and the initial shipment schedule has been revised downward to less than half. In addition, operating income is expected to decrease by 10 billion yen. Kawamura, CEO of Meiji Holdings, commented, “It is undesirable to prevent others from being vaccinated and to spread untruths on social networking sites. It is now required that the government, above all, properly investigate and provide scientific evidence to explain the safety of the vaccine and various questions about its risks.