SSK Soryu's Collision Off Cape Ashizuri : Curse of the Kuroshio?

 

The damaged SSK Soryu at Kochi Port 
9th Feb 2021. Photo : Asahi Shimbun 

Collision At Sea

Collisions at sea involving submarines thankfully do not happen everyday. Even when such unfortunate incidents occur, they tend to take place at remote waters where there are not much media coverage. In any case the need to maintain operational security would ensure very little information whatsoever will be made available to the public on these mishaps.

On 8th Feb 2021, the Japanese attack submarine JS Soryu collided with the Hong Kong registered bulk carrier the Ocean Artemis while it was surfacing during a training deployment in international waters southeast of Cape Ashizuri, Kochi Prefecture. The collision occurred at periscope depth and left the Soryu with extensive damage but fortunately no fatalities.

What was unusual about this incident was the large amount of high resolution images and video footage taken of the damaged submarine after the accident. Once the word was out the Japanese news media even had reporters and cameramen flown out to sea in helicopters to film the stricken submarine, made possible also because of the accident location's proximity to land.

Many theories had been proposed by new agencies and defense web portals as to how and why the accident happened, from poorly trained sonar technicians to equipment failure to thermal layers and even professional negligence. Frequently the opinions of serving or ex-submariners were sought and while they provide a good overview of the matter, none mentioned anything about a local maritime phenomenon that could have played a significant role in causing this incident : the fast moving warm Kuroshio Current that flows northward and eastward off the Pacific coast of Japan.

The Kuroshio Current off the coast of Japan
Here for real time map by earth.nullschool.net

Cape Ashizuri, approximate collision site
and current path of the Kuroshio in red.

The Submarine Soryu

The Soryu is one of the largest and most advanced diesel attack submarine in the world. It is equipped with an air-independent propulsion system. It is also relatively new, being launched as the first-in-class in Dec 2007 and commissioned in March 2009. It has a length of 84m with a displacement of 2900 tonnes surfaced. Its sonar suite comprises of a bow array, flank arrays and a towed array. 

It could make 13 knots on the surface and 20 knots submerged. Its maximum diving depth, though classified, is believed to be between 600m to 800m.

The Soryu is assigned to the 5th Submarine Squadron, 1st Submarine Flotilla operating out of Kure. Her commanding officer is Commander Koji Keisuke ( 恒次啓介 ). The submarine had recently spent considerable time in the ship yard on routine maintenance. She left her home port on 6th Feb 2021 with 90 crew members on a training deployment, most likely for re-certification of her operational readiness.

Soryu-class submarine on surfaced transit.
Photo : JMSDF

The Bulk carrier Ocean Artemis 

The Ocean Artemis is a bulk carrier with a gross tonnage of 51208 tonnes and a dead weight of 93103 tonnes. It was built in 2011. It has an overall length of 229m with a beam of 38m. Its maximum speed is said to be 13.8 knots. It was transporting iron ore from the Chinese port of Qingdao and was heading for the Japanese port of Mizushima, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture when it collided with the Soryu. AIS data suggested that the Ocean Artemis had a draught of 14.9m on the day of the collision.   

Map of Shikoku Island and Kuroshio

The seabed 50km off Shikoku is 
between 1000m to 1500m deep.
Map : Geological Survey of Japan 

Reconstructing The Collision

Based on satellite, oceanographic, meteorological and maritime traffic data, we know that it was a clear but windy day out at sea 50km southeast of Cape Ashizuri on 8th Feb 2021. The wind was gusting at 25 knots from the northwest and whipping up swells with significant wave heights of 1.59m, probably the equivalent of Sea State 4.

The collision site is located over the continental shelf of Shikoku Island and lies over waters about 1000m deep. It straddles not only the main shipping lanes south of Shikoku but also the main path of the warm Kuroshio Current. Despite being winter, the sea surface temperature was about 21C, only dropping to 15C at the 200m depth. The current is strong with a flow speed of about 2 knots and an axis of 070 degrees. 

The Ocean Artemis, laden with ore and riding low in the water, was east bound for the port of Mizushima in the Seto Inland Sea. It would likely be maintaining a course of approximately 060 degrees as she navigates around Shikoku to enter the Inland Sea from the east via the Naruto Straits. 

At 10:58am local time, the Soryu was conducting a surfacing drill when, rising from the deep, she failed to detect the presence of the bulk carrier until she was at periscope depth. It was already too late to take evasive action by the time the surface vessel was seen through the periscope and a collision was inevitable. 

The bow of the bulk carrier struck the starboard side of the submarine's conning tower, denting it and damaging the anechoic tiles covering that area. It also caused severe damage to the starboard hydroplane and the sensor masts, taking out the communications antennae. Three submariners suffered from light injuries like bruises and none required evacuation.

Since the damage occurred mainly on the starboard side of the submarine, it can be deduced that it would have been a glancing blow had the submarine been on a course similar to the bulk carrier or if it were on a reciprocal course. Conversely it would have been a head-on impact had the submarine been maintaining a southerly bearing.

We would later learn that the Ocean Artemis did not report detecting any noise or vibration from the collision and most likely continued with her voyage without even realizing that a collision had taken place.

The loss of communications rendered the Soryu incapable of reporting the incident to the 1st Submarine Flotilla headquarters. Fortunately the Soryu could still move under her own power on the surface and she eventually navigated to an area with cellphone reception. The Ministry of Defense would eventually learn of the accident by 2:20pm. 

Transiting on the surface, the Soryu made it to the port city of Kochi by nightfall. Meanwhile the JCG diverted the Ocean Artemis to Kobe the next day for investigations. There, divers discovered that the impact left multiple scratch marks with black paint residue that presumably matched those from the Soryu on the bulbous bow of the Ocean Artemis. A dent and a 20cm crack corresponding to the point of impact was also found on the bow. This crack had caused some sea water seepage into the vessel.

The black paint residue were collected and had been dispatched to the JCG Research Centre in Tachikawa City, Tokyo, for further analysis and confirmation that they originated from the Soryu.   

Underway enroute to Kochi.
Photo : 5th Regional HQ JCG

Damage to the hydroplane, sensor masts and conning tower 
of the JMSDF submarine Soryu. Photo : Mainichi Shimbun

Moored off Kochi, 9th Feb 2021
Photo : Mainichi Shimbun

Moored off Kochi, 9th Feb 2021
Photo : Mainichi Shimbun

Moored off Kochi, 9th Feb 2021
Photo : Mainichi Shimbun

Moored off Kochi, 9th Feb 2021
Photo : Mainichi Shimbun

The damaged Soryu at Kochi on 9th Feb 2021

Ocean Artemis off Kobe 9th Feb 2021
Photo : Mainichi Shimbun

Divers inspect the bow of the Ocean Artemis
Photo : Asahi Shimbun

Scratch marks on the bow of the Ocean Artemis
Photo : Jiji Press

What Caused The Collision?

Surfacing drills are among the most hazardous submarine operations undertaken during peace time. Even with modern sonar equipment, collisions with surface vessels are always a possibility especially around busy shipping lanes.

Every submarine's forward mounted sonar has blind spots known as the baffles, an area directly behind the submarine where sound detection is not possible. In order to surface safely, a submarine has first to perform a manoeuvre known as clearing the baffles to ensure there are no vessels hiding in the blind spot. It requires the boat to change its course slightly so that the previously hidden areas could now be scanned. Once the baffle is cleared, the submarine will have to execute the ascend to the surface within a specified time of not more than 10 to 15 minutes, any longer and the traffic pattern could have changed.

There is a possibility that the Soryu did not perform a proper baffle clearing or it could have taken too long to ascend after that. Her skipper Cmdr Koji Keisuke had commanded the JS Takashio ( SS-597 ) before assuming command of the Soryu on 15th Oct 2019, so he is not new to his post. However, the Soryu has recently spent considerable yard time on regular maintenance and had just resumed operational training after a long lapse. Perhaps crew proficiency may not be at the peak level and mistakes might be more common.

Clearing the baffle ( sonar blind spot )
Image : Asahi Shimbun

The same trend of thought tells us that the likelihood of the sonar specialists not reporting a surface contact as they should is also possible and could have been made more likely by their long absence from regular training. Having said that, due to the hazardous nature of operating submarines, only the best of the best gets selected to train as submariners, and MSDF personnel have to undergo rigorous training of high standards for their qualification process. So again, professional negligence, though unlikely, cannot be completely ruled out. 

Equipment failure is a remote possibility but Japan's fleet of submarine is young by other navy's standards. Until recently, JMSDF used to retire its submarines after an average of just 20 years! We also know that the Japanese tend to maintain their equipment in tip top condition, and that the Soryu had just completed its regular yard maintenance, so the scenario where there is a catastrophic failure of the sonar system leading to a collision has a low probability. In fact, Chief of the Maritime Staff, Adm Yamamura Hiroshi had already categorically denied any reports of a periscope or sonar malfunction. 

The size and draft of the bulk carrier brings up another possibility to the cause of the accident - the bow-null effect. Simply put, the enormous length of the surface vessel approaching head-on effectively acts as a shield to greatly diminish the acoustic signature from the engine and propellers which are a couple of hundred meters behind the bow. This reduced sound level could have been misinterpreted to be emitted from a source much further away along the same bearing, leading to a potentially disastrous situation. Even veteran submariners have had close shaves due to the bow-null effect. It has also been postulated to be the cause of many collisions between whales and large surface vessels.

Apart from human errors and equipment failures, environmental and geographical factors frequently have a contributory if not causative role to play in such accidents. For submarines, water temperature, depth and to a lesser extend, salinity, will have a huge impact on sound transmission. The existence of shallow thermal layers for example, might create environments with positive sound velocity profile gradients, causing some surface generated sound waves to be deflected upwards. It would result in shadow zones below the layer and make vessel detection from beneath all but impossible. The Kuroshio could have contributed to the creation of such thermal layers.

The Black Tide

The collision took place on a winter's morning in an area known to have high maritime traffic, over the continental shelf extension of Shikoku with depths of approximately 1000m. February is typically the coldest month of the year in the northern hemisphere and being located in the temperate zone one could logically expect the sea surface temperature around Japanese waters to be cold as well, causing thermal layers commonly encountered in warmer months to be greatly diminished or even dissipate altogether. 

That would well be the case if not for the powerful Kuroshio Current which brings warm water from the tropics to the Japanese archipelago all year round. Kuroshio ( 黒潮 ) means black tide in Japanese. It is named because of its nutrient poor, deep blue, clear waters. It is one of the world's major oceanic currents comparable to the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic. The impact of this warm current on Japanese climate and maritime related industries is so great that the Japan Coast Guard monitors its activities constantly and issues daily reports.

JCG Quick Bulletin of Ocean Conditions
Path of Kuroshio & Tsushima Currents
Flow speed is 2 knots south of Cape
Ashizuri on 8th Feb 2021

Sea Surface Temperature off Cape
Ashizuri is about 21C on 8th Feb 2021

Because of the Kuroshio Current, the sea surface temperature south of Cape Ashizuri where the collision occurred remains at 20C to 22C in winter and between 26C to 28C in summer. So even in winter a significant layer of warmer water will exist above the colder water deeper below. How deep is warm layer gets depends on factors such as the current's flow rate, mixing from colder layers below and even eddies that form when the current is deflected by geological features or when it meets another ocean current, like the southward flowing cold Oyashio current from the Kuril Islands. 

It is a well known fact that the salinity and water temperatures can vary considerably especially at the boundaries of the tide, making navigation with sonar extremely tricky. To complicate matters, the path of the black tide is not always fixed and can sometimes shift quite drastically in what is known as the " Great Meandering " ( 黒潮大蛇行 Kuroshio Daidako ) especially off the Kii Peninsula east of Shikoku Island.

Sea Surface Temperature 20.6C
Flow Direction 070
Flow Speed 0.94m/s ( 1.88 knots )

Significant Wave Height 1.59m
Peak Wave Period 5.2s
Direction 305 deg

Surface Wind 25.5 knots
Direction 310 deg

The waters around the collision site is 
approximately 1000m deep.
Bathymetry from Japan's Submission to
the Commission on the Limits of the
Continental Shelf.

Maritime traffic density 2012
Image : shipmap.org

The Aftermath

The JMSDF has not been all forth coming with information on the collision. There were no mention of the incident on its website and social media accounts. The Minster for Defense and the Chief Cabinet Secretary did have press conferences and the MOD had a press release, but that was it. Some of the images and videos came from the JCG but mostly they were from the news media. Investigations are ongoing and hopefully the findings will be released soon. 

Since the Kuroshio Current dominates over almost the entire Pacific coast of Japan, I am convinced that the collision has something to do with it, barring other factors such as human error. Its high flow volume of very warm water creates a perpetual summer-like condition to Kyushu, Shikoku and Western Japan extending eastwards to the Kanto region at times. Its ever changing flow axis with major deviations and meandering and its multitude of eddies and countercurrents where there are deflections by land masses and confluences with other currents means that it is as unpredictable as can be, creating treacherous acoustic environments for submarine navigation. 

As usual, most accidents are caused by cumulative errors committed by all parties involved, but sometimes it can boil down to just pure bad luck, like being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The Soryu unfortunately has quite a long history of mishaps .... from electrocution and burns at the shipyard to attempted suicide and the accidental drowning of three petty officers within the flooded areas of the sail during routine operations in 2012. 

At the time of writing, the Soryu is back in Kobe where the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipyard is located, presumably for damage assessment and repairs. Even though her pressure hull wasn't damaged, it could still possibly be out of active duty for several months and the repairs could cost several tens of millions of dollars.

Cmdr Koji will likely be relieved of his command regardless of the cause of the collision and the outcome of the investigations. His career as a sub-driver or even his future in the JMSDF could already be jeopardised. 

Meanwhile, the MOD decided that a 3.5 hour delay in incident reporting due to communications failure is utterly unacceptable and the JMSDF has pledged to ensure the availability of satellite phones on their vessels and boats.

Cmdr Koji Keisuke
Photo : JMSDF

Foot Note : Cape Ashizuri

It would not be right to end this article without elaborating on Cape Ashizuri. Known in Japanese as Ashizuri Misaki ( 足摺岬 ), this is the southernmost point of Shikoku Island. It is located in the remote western part of Kochi Prefecture where the pristine Shimanto River lies, with rugged coasts and beautiful night skies. 

Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse
Photo : JNTO

I had visited Cape Ashizuri in Feb 2017, after completing the Kochi Ryoma Marathon. Accessibility was an issue as the rail network did not extend to that region and even driving along the winding coastal roads was tedious and time consuming. But the effort was well worth it.

The Cape lies within the Ashuzuri-Uwakai National Park and it has majestic sea cliffs that towers above the vast expense of the Pacific Ocean. I remembered that it was extremely windy when I visited the Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse and walked through the tunnel of camellia which was in full bloom.

Cape Ashizuri is the southernmost
point of Shikoku Island. Statue
of John Manjiro in the Background.
Photo : Author

Another attraction at Cape Ashizuri is the statue of John Manjiro ( 中浜万次郎 ), a Japanese whose remarkable story I first learnt only during that visit. Manjiro had hailed from Nakanohama, an area known today as Tosashimizu, not far from Cape Ashizuri. 

Manjiro came from a poor family and lost his father at a young age. In 1841 when Manjiro was fourteen years old, he left home to work on a fishing vessel to help make ends meet. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, he was shipwrecked on an uninhabited island off the coast of Japan for six months. Manjiro was eventually saved by the captain of a passing American whaler who named him John and brought him back to his hometown of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, so that he could be educated. 

Statue of Nakahama John Manjiro
at Cape Ashizuri. Photo : Wikipedia

Manjiro stayed in America for ten years, learning English and the science of navigation among other things, becoming the first Japanese to achieve long term residency in America. All that during an era when the ordinary Japanese were forbidden to travel or interact with foreigners! He would later join a whaling ship and work his way up to become the first mate and even participated in the California Gold Rush, earning enough money to fund his journey back to Japan. 

Upon his return, instead of meting punishment for violating the travel ban, the Shogunate government found his knowledge in English and foreign ways valuable and made him an advisor. He was also the translator for Japan's first trans-Pacific delegation to San Francisco and was appointed a lecturer at the Kaisei Institute dedicated to the teaching of foreign languages, science and advanced western technologies, paving the way for the Meiji Restoration and the industrialization of Japan which followed shortly. 

John Manjiro's story is worthy of an article all by itself but fortunately all the details can be found here.

Gunkan Machi : The Sprightly Japanese Naval March That Even The Chinese Found Irresistible

 

Gunkan March written in calligraphy. Image : JMSDF

You might be familiar with military marches such as " Anchors Aweigh " of the US Naval Academy or the British " Colonel Bogey " march adopted in the 1957 film " The Bridge on the River Kwai ", but have you heard of  Japan's number one military march, the Gunkan Koshinkyoku?

The Gunkan Machi ( 軍艦マーチ ), officially known as the Gunkan Koshinkyoku ( 軍艦行進曲 ), is a military march composed in 1897 by Setoguchi Tokichi. Translated, it is invariably known as the Warship March or the March " Man-Of-War ".  It was the official naval march of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( IJN ) and currently that of its modern day successor the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ( JMSDF ).

It has a storied past in its more than a century of existence and was banned for a few years by the US occupation forces after World War II, in part due to its controversial imperialistic and militaristic lyrics. The march was resurrected with the formation of the JMSDF and is frequently played during ship naming and launching ceremonies for both warships and sometimes merchantmen as well. In post-war Japan, this much beloved tune continues to endear Japanese hearts and can found in CD compilations and can be heard as background music streaming from pachinko machines and arcade video game consoles.

It even has a commemorative monument erected in its honour at the Mikasa Park in the port city of Yokosuka, and that is an uncommon feat. How many of the world's great marches have had their own monument? And did I mention that this march has such a catchy rhythm and tune that even the Chinese could not resist using it during one of their graduation ceremony? But more of that later.

We can begin by listening to the Gunkan March being played by the JMSDF Band, Tokyo at the Tokyo Opera City at the 50th Regular Concert in 2011. The video can also be accessed here. 

The Gunkan March

I honestly could not  recall when I first heard the Gunkan March being played but it was likely a few years ago when watching one of the launching ceremony of a Japanese warship. After listening to it a few times being played on different events, it must have dawned on me that this had to be some official tune sanctioned by the JMSDF. The more I listened to it, the more appealing it became. I was so intrigued by it that I started to research on its origins and history, and what a treasure cove of information I discovered.

The Gunkan March could have its origins traced to lyrics written by the multi-talented educator, naturalist and lyricist Toriyama Hiraku ( 鳥山啓 ) in 1893 entitled " Man-of-War " ( Gunkan ). It was made into a military song with music composed by Yamada Genichiro and was selected for the Compilation of Elementary School Songs edited by educator Isawa Shuji ( 伊澤修二 ). You can listen to this original Gunkan military song set to a very different tune and tempo here. If the song does not play automatically, right click on the black bar below the photo of the songbook and select reload frame.

Original Gunkan military song composed by Yamada Genichiro
in the Collection of Elementary School Songs, published on
18th Aug1893. Photo : JMSDF Band, Tokyo

In 1897, Setoguchi Tokichi ( 瀬戸口藤吉 ), then a warrant officer in the music corps of the navy, created a new composition to the lyrics and the Gunkan March came into being. In modern English, naval vessels are known as warships, but in those pre-dreadnought days towards the end of the nineteenth century when the march was composed, they were commonly known as man-of-war. Hence the Gunkan March is also frequently referred to in English as the March " Man-of-War".

The exact date which the Gunkan March premiered has been lost in history but music critic, composer and lyricist Horiuchi Keizo ( 堀内敬三 ) reckons it to be 30th April 1900 during the fleet review off Kobe, played by the naval band onboard the flagship, the battleship Fuji. He came to the conclusion based on the recollections of the naval band personnel. However, according to the JMSDF Band, Tokyo website, historical records indicated that the Fuji remained at anchor during the fleet review due to an unexpected epidemic and Emporor Meiji conducted the review onboard the cruiser Asama. So Horiuchi could have had either the date or the venue wrong.

The Lyrics

It is interesting to note that the march was originally composed in B-flat major but was found to be too difficult for men to manage. It was transposed first to G major and then finally to F major towards the end of the Taisho era.

In its initial form, the Gunkan March lyrics consisted of the two verses from Toriyama's " Gunkan ". Later, a third verse known as the Umi Yukaba ( 海行かば ) which has its origins from the Manyoshu ( 万葉集 ) manuscripts, an ancient collection of poetry in Classical Japanese, would be inserted to the march as a middle portion to form a trio. In the latest iteration however, the Umi Yukaba portion would be rearranged as the third verse.

I personally find the lyrics rather disturbing, even macabre, especially the Umi Yukaba portion. They are shown here with the corresponding translation, not as any form of endorsement for the expansionist and militaristic ideology of Imperial Japan, but for facilitating the understanding of the history and evolution of the march itself.

軍艦行進曲 Warship March

守るも攻むるも黒鐵の Black steel that excels in defense and attack

浮かべる城ぞ頼みなる Reliable castles over the water

浮かべるその城日の本の Floating fortresses of the Japanese Imperium

皇国の四方を守るべし Protecting the four corners of the Empire

真鐵のその艦日の本に Japan's fleet of steel

仇なす國を攻めよかし Will attack and triumph over the enemy

石炭の煙は大洋の Columns over coal fire smoke over the great ocean

龍かとばかり靡くなり Adrift with the winds as if soaring with dragons

弾撃つ響きは雷の Thunderous clap from exploding shells

聲かとばかり響むなり Reverberate over the sea

萬里の波濤を乗り越えて Riding the waves for ten thousand miles

皇国の光輝かせ For the glory of the Empire

海行かば Should I perish at sea

水漬く屍 I'll be a corpse awash

山行かば If I expire in the mountains

草生す屍 The grass be my pall

大君の辺にこそ死なめ To sacrifice my life for my sovereign

かえりみはせじ I have no regrets

JMSDF Bands from the various naval districts frequently play the Gunkan March in its instrumental form without singing the lyrics, which is the way I most prefer.

A well used Gunkan March score.
Photo : JMSDF Band, Tokyo

Ceremonial Use

The Gunkan Koshikyoku is one of ten musical compositions selected by the JMSDF for ceremonial use in 1961. Of these seven were also found on the IJN's list of ceremonial music established in Aug 1912. Adopted as the JMSDF's official ceremonial march, the use of the Gunkan March is only sanctioned under the following circumstances :

During fleet reviews ( 観艦式 kankanshiki ) and military parades ( 観閲式 kanetsushiki )

During ship commissioning ( 引渡式 hikiwatashishiki ) and flag awarding ceremonies ( 旗授与式 hatajyuyoshiki )

During ship naming ( 命名式 meimeishiki ) and launching ceremonies ( 進水式 shinsuishiki )

Any other approved occasions such as military academy graduation ceremonies, port entry and departure ceremonies for visiting ships, publicity events, and lastly, concerts and tattoos.

Multi-purpose frigate JS Kumano goes down the slipway
amidst the tune of the Gunkan March, 19th Nov 2020.
Photo JMSDF

Ship Naming & Launching 

Japanese ship naming and launching ceremonies always follow a strict sequence. For a typical dry dock ceremony, the opening speech comes first, followed by the singing or instrumental rendition of the national anthem the Kimigayo. Then the guest of honor, usually the Minister for Defense, would name the ship. Preparations to launch the ship follows, with shipyard workers scurrying to remove dog shores and choke pins. Then comes the rope cutting that will start the ship moving down the slipway into the water.

The military band is usually stationed near the bow of the ship, sometimes said to be near enough to smell the champagne when the bottle is smashed against the bow. They will start playing the Gunkan Koshinkyoku the moment the rope is cut, many a times just milliseconds before the bottle hits the bow and the giant confetti ball bursts open.

The speed of the ship going down the slipway frequently means that the ship is already in the water way before the naval band could finish playing even the first verse of the march. The blessing whistle would have been sounded by other ships in the surrounding waters at this stage and the ceremony gradually draws to a close.

The above JMSDF video shows the launch of the destroyer Asahi ( DD-119 ) at Mitsubishi's Nagasaki shipyard in 2016.

Ship's company march to the tune of the Gunkan Koshinkyoku
during the commissioning of the Aegis destroyer JS Maya.
Photo : JMSDF

Commissioning and Flag Awarding Ceremony

Ship commissioning ceremonies in the JMSDF similarly follow a set routine, with the vessel by the wharf and the ship's complement standing at attention near to it. The VIP arrives and inspects the contingent. The opening speeches are delivered and the initiation of the commissioning by the Minister for Defense or an appointed representative is carried out. The shipyard representative formally hands over the ship to the Minister for Defense. At this stage, the shipyard's flag is lowered for the last time onboard the vessel signifying the final process of ownership transfer. The commanding officer of the ship then receives the state flag from the Chief of the Maritime Staff and marches to hand the flag to his deputy. The deputy will lead the ship's company to board the vessel, marching to the beat of the Gunkan Koshinkyoku played by the naval band.

Once onboard, the national anthem is played and the state flag is raised for the first time on the vessel. The Chief of the Maritime Staff then comes onboard and gives a speech to the ship's company, followed by another speech by the CO of the vessel. The ship prepares to sail while the bouquet presentation ceremony takes place at the wharf side. The CO then reports to the Chief of the Maritime Staff for permission to sail. As the vessel casts off, the naval band plays the Gunkan Koshinkyoku again for the second time during the ceremony. The invited guests and all the naval brass then gather at the wharf side to wave goodbye to the departing ship amidst the Auld Lang Syne tune.

The above video shows the commissioning of the improved Soryu-class submarine the Oryu ( SS-511 ), the world's first lithium-ion battery powered diesel-electric submarine, at Mitsubishi's Kobe shipyard on 5th March 2020.

 

Unofficial Use

As mentioned earlier, various iterations of the Gunkan March as been used as background music ( BGM ) in all sorts of places in Japan. The most common would be BGM from those pinball machines in the ubiquitous pachinko palours found in every Japanese town or city. It can also be heard streaming from video game machines in arcades and sometimes as BGM in elevators.

It is also frequently used in commercial advertisements, not just within Japan but also in Taiwan and South East Asia where Japanese influence is strong.

Bama ( Myanmar ) Doe Ye Tatmadaw
official military song. Image : JMSDF

Burmese Military Song

An adulterated version of the Gunkan March even became adopted by the Burmese military ( Tatmadaw ) as their official military song. Known as the Myanmar Doe Ye Tatmadaw March, it is played on the Army Broadcast every morning and any self-respecting Burmese would be familiar with the song. It can be heard on the JMSDF Band, Tokyo website here. If the audio does not play automatically, right click on the black bar below the photo of the score and select reload frame.

How this came to be has an interesting history and has everything to do with General Aung San, the Burmese politician and revolutionary, founder of the Burmese Armed Forces and father of Myanmar's recently ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. 

The older Aung San had been fighting for independence from Burma's colonial rulers, the British, and fled Burma shortly before the outbreak of World War II to seek support from Chinese communists. By a twist of fate, he was recruited by the Japanese who promised support. Together with a core of 30 revolutionaries ( 30 comrades ), they were educated in the Japanese language and trained with the Imperial Japanese Army where they were exposed to many different Japanese military songs or gunka ( 軍歌 ). Among all the songs, they were so smitten with the Gunkan March that they adopted it as their official military song when the Burmese Armed Forces was subsequently founded in 1945. 

In the Doe Ye Tatmadaw, the original lyrics of the Gunkan March has simply been replaced by Burmese words. The tune had been slightly changed here and there but it is still recognizable as a foreign or adulterated version of the Gunkan March. It is constantly being played as BGM at the Defense Services Museum of Naypyidaw, the world's biggest military museum and the white elephant monument that the military junta built for itself. 

What's surprising to me is that the official JMSDF Band, Tokyo website has a fairly detail write-up on this illegitimate version of its Gunkan March and even plays the Doe Ye Tatdamaw when the web page is first opened. It does not seem to be bothered by the infringement of copyrights by the Tatmadaw. 

I am no expert in copyright laws, but the copyright lengths typically lasts for the lifetime of the author or composer plus another 50 to 70 years ( In Japan Life + 70 years ) and Setoguchi passed away in 1941. So the Doe Ye Tatmadaw was created when Setoguchi's composition was still protected under intellectual laws which should be enforceable. Even though 80 years had passed since Setoguchi's death and the copyrights to his masterpiece would have lapsed based on commercial principles, would it apply to the official march of a national institute like the JMSDF? Wouldn't sovereign nations have perpetual rights to their national anthems for example? 

Chinese Infatuation 

Many Chinese people have a long standing hatred for Japan because of the many atrocities committed by the Japanese imperial military and the decades of abuse and humiliation brought by them. China's humiliating defeat by Japan during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 resulted in the loss of Korea as a tributary state and the ceding of Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and Penghu Islands in perpetuity. 

The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1931-1945 began with the invasion of Manchuria followed by the full-scale invasion of China in 1937 and saw even more atrocities committed by the Japanese including the Nanjing Massacre where an estimated 300000 civilians were killed and the illegal use of chemical and biological weapons. These are excruciatingly painful memories that the Chinese will likely never forget or forgive.

Even though Sino-Japanese relations were supposed to have normalized in 1972, anti-Japanese sentiments still prevail among a significant portion of the Chinese population. Therefore the inadvertent use of the Gunkan March for any purpose in China would trigger off a huge public outcry. This had happened several times in the past decade, as the sprightly, fast paced and jubilant march is characteristically irresistible to almost anybody, unsuspecting Chinese included! 

In 2005 a war veteran complaint at an online forum that the Zhonghai Kangcheng Kindergarten ( 中海康城幼儿园 ) in Guangzhou City played the Gunkan March every morning as the children arrived at the school. He claimed to have informed the school about the history and origins of the music and requested for the broadcast to be stopped but to no avail. Reporters from the local news portal subsequently staked out the kindergarten and verified that the school was indeed playing the Gunkan March. When contacted, the person in-charged, a young women, said that the broadcast was from a CD bought at a local music shop and had no indication that the particular tune had a Japanese connection. She further said that the Sino-Japanese War happened a long time ago, before she was born, which was absolutely true! The local education ministry however, had a dim view of the incident and conducted a thorough investigation. It failed to uncover the offending piece though and the school indicated that that it did not deliberately broadcast the Japanese march and subsequently used only piano pieces for its daily broadcast. News on the incident in Chinese only here.

Also in 2005, a retiree noticed the Gunkan March ringtone emerging from a young person's cell phone in Danyang City, Jiangsu Province. Investigations by a news reporter traced the ringtone to a local telecommunications service provider who failed to respond to inquiries but would later quietly remove the offending ringtone from its download list.

In 2009, at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing City, a tourist reported to the management authority that a video games booth was streaming the Gunkan March as BGM from its shooting game machine. The stall was swiftly reprimanded.

Most recently on 27th Jun 2014, the Aurora Foreign Language Kindergarten of Shanghai City was known to have used the Gunkan March as BGM during a drum performance by students at its graduation ceremony. It created a huge backlash against the school when parents unwittingly uploaded the visuals on social media. According to the teacher in-charged, the music was sourced through a search on Baidu Music. The teacher selected it for its tune and rhythm, out of ignorance since it was a musical piece that came without any lyrics or written explanation on its background. The education ministry intervened and the school's executive committee had to issue a public apology and it seemed that the services of the principal and the teacher involved were also terminated. The irony was the kindergarteners actually liked the tune very much. Write up on Baidu about the incident in Chinese here.

Gunkan March Monument, Mikasa Park, Yokosuka
Photo : Wikipedia

Gunkan March Monument

The Gunkan Koshinkyoku is probably the only march in the world that has a monument to its name. It is located in the Mikasa Park at Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo. The main attraction of the Mikasa Park is of course the preserved pre-dreadnought battleship IJN Mikasa ( 三笠 ) which served as Vice-admiral Togo Heihachiro's flagship in the Battle of Tsushima Strait against the Russian Fleet in 1905.

The monument was completed in 1996 as a public effort by the people of Yokosuka City. It has the lyrics on one face and the score, notated in G Major on the opposite side. A short description about the history and origins of the march appears below the score.

It is erected near the stern of the battleship.

Mikasa Park. Arrow points at Gunkan March
monument. Photo : Wikipedia

Setoguchi Tokichi

Setoguchi was born on 28th Jun 1868 in Tarumizu City, Kagoshima Prefecture. He joined the Tokyo Naval Band as a clarinetist in 1882 and would later study at the Tokyo Academy of Music. He was appointed the Naval Musician in 1895 and married in 1896.

He composed his masterpiece the Gunkan March in 1897. In addition, he had numerous other marches and songs to his name, such as the Patriotic March, Song of the Shikishima Warship, the Battle of Tsushima Sea March etc. He is known as the Father of Marches in Japan.

After his retirement in 1917, Setoguchi became a professor of music at the Tokyo Imperial University. He died of cerebral haemorrhage on 8th Nov 1941 at the age of 74. His tomb, set amidst weeping cherry trees, is located at the Jokoji temple ( 常光寺 ) in Yokosuka, about 3km from the Mikasa Park.

Since 1999, the City of Tarumizu has held an annual Setoguchi Memorial March Competition in his memory.

In 2018, on his 150th birth anniversary, the City of Tarumizu relocated the Setoguchi monument from its original site at the Shitamiya Shrine ( 下宮神社 ) to its current location at the grounds of the Tarumizu City Culture Center.

Setoguchi monument probably at its previous 
location at the Shitamiya Shrine a.k.a.
Kagoshima Shrine ( Tarumizu City ).
Photo : Jalan.net

Publicity poster for the 20th Setoguchi March Competition
in 2019 depicting a 15 year old Setoguchi.

So there you go, a much beloved military march, a Japanese music icon, and a whole lot of history.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also what to check this other article of mine out Warding Sea Monsters & Demons : Japan's Sacred Silver Ship Launching Axe.

COVID-19 : Should You Be Vaccinated?

 

COVID-19 vaccination at Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickam 29th Dec 2020.
USN Photo.

Less than a year ago, during the early days of the pandemic, we witnessed COVID-19 outbreaks onboard naval vessels such as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the Taiwanese supply ship ROCN Panshih. Thankfully, military leaders around the world have learnt from these incidences and have since implemented the necessary measures such as pre-deployment quarantine, mask-wearing and safe-distancing to drastically reduce the likelihood of such large scale outbreaks among service personnel. Though effective, these disease preventing measures are highly disruptive and restrictive and have a negative impact on moral, work efficiency and productivity.

Now, slightly more than a year since the first cases were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a new tool is made available to fight the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. I am referring to the COVID-19 vaccines that are now starting to be administered to the masses in many countries. It will be through the widespread inoculation of vaccines that will give the world a fighting chance of ending the pandemic so that life can eventually return to normal, well at least a post-pandemic normal.

In many democratic societies, COVID-19 vaccinations are given on a voluntary basis and the current challenge is that many people are unsure if they should receive the vaccines. There are even some who would refuse to believe in the science of disease prevention and would reject the vaccines outright. Herd immunity and therefore the protection of the larger population cannot be achieved if not enough people take up the vaccine.

During this initial vaccine roll-out phase where availability is low, governments are trying their best to prioritize vaccinations for frontline medical personnel and essential services personnel, apart from those who are most vulnerable, like the frail and elderly nursing home residents. For military personnel, if your commander " volunteered " you for the vaccine, or if vaccination is listed as an operational requirement, it might be difficult or even impossible to refuse.

So, are the COVID-19 vaccines safe? The short answer is YES. And I will attempt to explain the science of vaccination in simple terms from the perspective of one who has already received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Disclaimer :  I do not work for any governmental organizations or NGO. I do not own shares or have any direct interest in any pharmaceutical companies, including those that research or produce vaccines. 

How Vaccines Work

Vaccines protect us from infectious diseases by training our immune system to recognize and eliminate those external threats to our bodies with much greater efficiency than it would if left to its own devices. When our immune system first encounters a pathogen such as a bacteria or a virus, it takes time to establish it as foreign to the body. It also takes time to organize an appropriate response to neutralize the threat, usually through some kind of antibody or cellular action.

The process of vaccination presents the immune system with the necessary information to prime it to react almost instantly should it encounter the real threat at a subsequent time. It is like a full-dress rehearsal, or a military exercise to prepare the soldiers for no-duff encounters. Once the immune system had familiarized itself with the infectious agent, it forms memory cells, B-lymphocytes that basically archives whatever the immune system has learnt. Any future encounter with the actual pathogen will result in an immediate activation of immune responses including rapid ramping up of antibody production and cellular defenses, usually with lethal consequences to the invading microbe. And hopefully this instant immune response will spare the host ( that's us ) from contracting the disease or at least avoid severe symptoms.

Preventive Medicine

Ever since the English physician and scientist Edward Jenner created the first modern vaccine against smallpox in 1796, our knowledge in immunology and expertise in vaccine development has increased exponentially. There exist today many safe and effective vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases including influenza, measles, yellow fever, hepatitis B, dengue and human papilloma virus, just to name a few. 

Collectively, vaccines have helped save literally hundreds of millions of human lives in the past centuries. Smallpox killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone before it was finally declared eradicated in 1980.

In addition to the of loss of lives, many of these infectious diseases cause severe morbidity and long term sequelae which can include blindness ( smallpox ), flaccid paralysis ( poliomyelitis ), permanent mental retardation and recurrent seizures ( Japanese encephalitis ) that can threaten the livelihood of any survivors and their care givers.

Where as most treatment methods in modern western medicine are curative and does nothing to help people avoid getting sick, the process of vaccination is one of a handful that is truely preventive in nature and is considered the most cost effective way to ward off infectious diseases. 

Historical Vaccine Development

Developing a new vaccine against any infectious agent is no mean feat. It takes years, sometimes even a decade or two, to research, design, produce, trial, obtain regulatory approval and finally market a vaccine. Even then the job is never finished as post-market surveillance for adverse reactions continues for many, many more years. It requires the combined effort of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from immunologists, pharmacists, micro-biologists, geneticists, bio-engineers, epidemiologists, statisticians to clinicians. Success is never guaranteed. 

The costs involved can be staggering too. The International Monetary fund ( IMF ) estimated R&D costs of between USD200 to USD500 millon for each vaccine and an investment of another USD500 to USD1500 million for facilities to produce the vaccine in scale.  

So how could COVID-19 vaccines be possibly developed, approved and mass produced within less than a year? Can they still be safe?

                                                             How vaccines are developed with Dr Anthony Fauci et al            

                                

Developing A Safe Pandemic Vaccine 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic represented an unprecedented global threat to humankind through its medical, socio-economic and environmental impacts. As of today, 104 million have contracted the disease of which 2.27 million had died. Entire cities, even whole countries are in protracted and sometimes recurrent lock-downs in mostly futile attempts to control the epidemic. Jobs and livelihoods are lost as trade and movement of people and goods are severely disrupted. Desperate times calls for desperate measures and fortunately advances in science and technology have made it possible for the accelerated but safe development of the pandemic vaccines. These are some of the enabling factors :

Genomics - advances in the field of genomics have allowed scientists to map out entire genomes of organisms through rapid DNA-sequencing. The structure and function of the genome can then be analysed and determined. Back in 2003 when the human genome was first sequenced, it had cost a billion dollars and had taken 13 long years to complete. Today, the vast increase in computing power, among other things, has allowed the human genome to be sequenced in just 2 days, for about $1000. The COVID-19 epidemic started in Wuhan in early December 2019. By 10th Jan 2020 the entire genome of the SARS-CoV-2 was sequenced, uploaded and freely available to the global scientific community of researchers.

Co-operation - Countries, governments, institutions, corporations and the academia are joining hands in ways never imagined before to combat the global scourge of COVID-19. Through efforts such as GISAID ( Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data ) scientific information on the influenza and the corona viruses are shared on a global scale. Universities are partnering big pharma to research on vaccines like the Oxford-Astra Zeneca duo and the Duke-NUS-Arcturus pairing. Vaccine candidates may also have their clinical trails done concurrently in several countries where the disease burden are the highest and that necessitates the highest level of co-ordination among governments and researchers.

Funding - In the past, vaccine research is mainly funded by individual pharmaceutical companies. Now, governments are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars to drastically accelerate vaccine research and development, usually in exchange for the priority to procure the vaccines when eventually available at an agreed special low price. While money may not be the solution to every problem encountered, the timely accessibility of funds can certainly pave the way for smooth processes.

Accelerated Clinical Trials - Regulatory authorities such as the FDA ( Food and Drug Administration ) have drastically shortened the time required to complete each phase of the clinical trial, without compromising on safety, partly by monitoring the vaccine trials on the fly. Where as in the past data for each phase was submitted for approval only at the end of the phase, now data is continuously uploaded for the authorities to review in real time, so that approval can be granted immediately for progression to the next phase, provided there are no safety issues involved. Another trick is to combine clinical trial phases. Some trials combine phase I and II while other might combine phase II and III. Also during a pandemic where there are high incidences of infection, the time required to reach a clinical end point ( for example, after X number of people involved in the trial got infected ) can be achieved much faster than during normal times when the disease burden is low, and the phase can be concluded earlier.

New Vaccine Technology - messenger RNA ( mRNA ) vaccines represent a new way of manufacturing vaccines and have never been utilized on other vaccines approved before the pandemic. Compared to the traditional way of vaccine manufacturing, these new vaccines have the advantage of using non-infective elements, have much shorter manufacturing time, have the potential to be engineered to target several diseases at the same time and can be developed in a laboratory using DNA templates and readily available materials. All these means that mRNA vaccine production can be more easily standardized and scaled up without affecting the yield, allowing for cheaper and faster roll-out. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are examples of mRNA vaccines and are both among the first to complete large scale clinical trials with flying colours. Here's the link to learn the difference between RNA vaccines and conventional vaccines.

Capacity Building - Pharmaceutical companies are preparing and expanding their manufacturing facilities for large scale vaccine production as the vaccines are concurrently being developed so that production can be ramp up rapidly once approval is given. The logistic and transportation industries are similarly preparing for vaccine distribution with expansion to cold storage facilities and delivery fleets. Production of ancillaries required for vaccine production, delivery and administration such as special low temperature glass vials, dry ice and special low dead-space syringes are also increased in anticipation of a huge surge in demand.

All these measures, coordinated on a global scale, have made it possible to produce safe and effective vaccines within a record breaking period of less than a year. With this in mind, let's take a closer look at the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the world's first successful mRNA vaccine, now being administered in the US, UK, Israel, Singapore and several countries that acted early enough to procure it in sufficient quantities.

In Pfizer We Trust
Photo : Wikipedia

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine

The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's collaboration with BioNTech AG, a German biotechnology company specializing in precise immunotherapies for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases, started in Aug 2018 with the original aim of producing mRNA-based influenza vaccines. When the COVID-19 outbreak started in Dec 2019, the focus turned towards the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Pfizer's development of a novel vaccine against COVID-19 was initiated on 10th Jan 2020, the very day the genetic sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was released by the Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention via GISAID. It would ultilize BioNTech's already mature mRNA technology. Several variants were created, four of which entered early clinical trials ( combined Phase I/II ) which began in April and May. It would eventually emerge that the most promising vaccine candidate with the best safety profile was the one with the code name BNT162b2. Phase III trials for BNT162b2 started in July involving 43538 participants from the US, Germany, Brazil and Argentina with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. By early November, preliminary data suggested the vaccine to be over 90% effective with no serious side-effects. The final results indicated an efficacy of 95% in preventing serious COVID-19 disease, paving way for the declaration of Emergency Use Authorization ( EUA ) by the UK on 2nd Dec and by the FDA on 11th Dec 2020.

mRNA vaccine at the cellular level.
Illustration : New England Journal of Medicine

BNT162b2 is a lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding the full-length spike of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Modifying a key nucleoside of the mRNA strand was crucial in reducing the unpleasant side effects of the vaccine while the lipid encapsulation protects the extremely fragile mRNA and facilitates its entry into the cells of the vaccine recipient. The mRNA would then instruct the cell to produce many copies of the spike-protein which would then trigger an immune response, leading to the eventual production of protective antibodies against the virus. The spike-protein is just an antigenic part of the coronavirus and is safe and non-infectious. The mRNA do not enter the nucleus of the cell where all the genes are located and therefore could never ever come into contact with or modify your DNA. They would be completely degraded and destroyed by all sorts of enzymes in the cells within probably less than 48 hours of vaccination.

The BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine is marketed under the brand name Comirnaty, with an international non-proprietary name ( INN ) of Tozinameran. It is supplied in vials of 5 doses and must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures between -60C to -80C, making its distribution and storage a logistical nightmare. It is transported with dry ice in special cold boxes with thermal sensors and GPS trackers to ensure compliance with the manufacturer's recommendations. It must be thawed before use. Its shelf-life is only 5 days when stored at the normal fridge temperatures between 2C to 8C and must be used within 6 hours of reconstitution with saline.

Receiving the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine at
Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton 15th Dec 2020.
Note ski gloves and thermal sensor. Photo : USN

The vaccination schedule requires 2 injections of 0.3ml 3 weeks apart. Effective protection against COVID-19 disease is observed just 10 days after the first shot, with the second shot acting as a booster dose to further enhance the level of protection. Possible side effects, mostly mild and transient, include the usual array of pain or swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache, nausea, giddiness, post-vaccination fever, allergic reactions with rashes and rarely anaphylaxis, a potentially life threatening form of drug allergy, with an incidence of 11.1 per million. 

Anyone can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine apart from those with a past history of anaphylaxis, those who are severely immuno-deficient, pregnant women and young people below the age of sixteen years old. The latter two groups because they were not included in the vaccine's clinical trials so no data on the safety of the vaccine exist at the moment for them. Clinicians do not yet know the protective duration of the vaccine as it is so new but it is hoped that the protection can at least last for 2 to 3 years, if not longer. Otherwise, the vaccination will have to repeated at regular intervals. Another unknown at this stage are the long term side-effects of the vaccine, if any. But from the basic science of immunology governing the design and production of vaccines and our collective experience dealing with many other vaccines, I believe the risks of long term side effects are not high. Vaccine side effects are usually observed within days or at most, within weeks after inoculation, not after months or years!

Pfizer manufactures the BNT162b2 vaccine in Michigan and Belgium. It has plans to deliver 50 million doses of the vaccine by end of 2020 and 1.3 billion doses in 2021. How much does it cost? BioNTech's chief strategy officer Ryan Richardson had said that the vaccine would be priced " well below typical market rates ". The vaccine would also have differential pricing depending on where and to which region it is being sold. It is common knowledge that the US government paid Pfizer $1.95 billion for an initial 100 million doses of the vaccine. So that works out to $19.50 per shot or $39 to vaccinate each person.

Hospital corpsman prepares Moderna vaccine at
US Naval Hospital Okinawa, 29th Dec 2020.
Photo : USN

Adverse Reactions? What Adverse Reactions? 

I was given my first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on 19th Jan 2021. Before the vaccine was given, a series of questions were asked to ensure the vaccine recipient was not feeling unwell, was not on anti-coagulants, did not have a past history of severe drug allergy, did not receive any other vaccines within the past 14 days, were not to be pregnant or breast feeding and other nitty gritty stuff. 

The vaccination process was mostly painless as a fine gauge needle ( 25G ) was used and the injection volume was small ( 0.3ml ). It was an intramuscular injection into the deltoid muscle ( upper arm ) and was completed within a couple of minutes. I had then to wait for 30 minutes at a holding area to be monitored for any possible adverse reactions before being allowed to leave for home. I was issued with a certificate of vaccination with the date for the second shot exactly 3 weeks later.

The only minor side effect that I encountered was a slight soreness at the site of injection which had began 12 hours post-vaccination. Even at its peak intensity at 24 hours, it was at best a mild tenderness which did not affect any of my routine activities. The ache was largely resolved by 36 hours post-vaccination. The injection site was never swollen or red at anytime and I did not develop any fever.

My stamina was not affected by the vaccine as I had attained the same timing for all four of my 10 km runs, the first of which was done 2 hours prior to vaccination and the rest on each of the 3 consecutive days immediately following the vaccination. I even managed to obtain the fastest ever timing for my usual 29 km weekend long run on day 10 post-vaccination. 

In case anyone wonders why I seem to be training a little more than the average person, exactly a year ago, I had failed in my first 100 mile ultra-marathon attempt, just before COVID-19 closed many borders to travelers. Another 100 km ultratrail event which I had enrolled in for the month of May was cancelled. I intend to return to complete these unfinished events sometime in the near future. So COVID-19 or not, I continue to motivate myself to train hard, and hope for borders to reopen soon.

Admittedly, not all vaccinations are smooth going. Perhaps I am just lucky. A friend of mine who is a major in an elite commando unit who had also received the Pfizer vaccine a few days after me had complaint of pain in his arm which lasted for several days. There are a few others whom I have known that had to take a couple of days off from work because they felt feverish or fatigued, but none are really serious events. I have since learnt that the second dose of the vaccine might possibly illicit a slightly stronger reaction from the body and I will update this article accordingly.

* 9th Feb Just completed second and final dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The soreness at the site of injection seemed to begin slightly earlier at 5 hours after vaccination but its nothing more than a niggling ache.

* 14th Feb The soreness, though slight, persisted for a total of more than 4 days. There was a slight swelling at the injection site which lasted for about 3 days. Completed a 78km overnight long run on day 4 post-vaccination with no problems except for some blisters.

So it seems true that once primed by the first dose, the body's reaction to the subsequent dose is slightly more intense, but still well manageable.

#SINKCOVID : One of the vaccine awareness campaign poster, US Navy.

Commemorative sticker, Washington DC Veteran Affairs Medical Center.
15th Dec 2020 Photo : USN

Why Should Anyone Be Vaccinated

The most obvious answer to this question is that COVID-19 infection is a potentially serious disease that can kill, regardless of age. The younger population with a more robust immune system generally fair better but are certainly not completely spared the debilitating symptoms, long term sequelae and even the possibility of death with COVID-19 infections. The SARS-Cov-2 case fatality rate can range from a relative low of 0.2% in the 20 to 29 years old group, to more than 20% for those above 80 years old.

Even if a person survives the acute infection, there are still the protracted post-infection sequelae or what is commonly known as " long COVID " to worry about. Chronic fatigue syndrome, asthenia, coronary syndromes, pulmonary embolism and stroke have all been reported with increased incidences among convalescent COVID patients.

One of the major reasons for vaccine hesitancy is the concern over the safety of these new and untried vaccines which are pushed out in record time. This worry is then exacerbated by inaccurate and frequently false information circulating on the internet and social media. In some communities, COVID vaccines are said to cause infertility. In others, they are the conspiracy theories that governments are trying to implant microchips into our bodies through the process of vaccination to ultimately control us. Some reports would highlight deaths occurring within days of vaccination, but none would eventually be proven to be caused by the vaccines directly. The Russians even claimed that mRNA vaccines will alter our genes and turn us into chimpanzees, absolutely impossible and laughable to a trained scientist, but would seem very real and plausible to the lay person not so well versed in science. Then there are people who had never taken the vaccine but would talk about the side effects and adverse reactions as if they were the experts, except they weren't! 

Another important but often overlooked and understated reason to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is the fact that there is still NO CURE for the disease. All those antiviral agents like Remdesivir, Lopinavir, anti-parasitic agents like Ivermectin and anti-inflammatory agents like Dexamethasone and Hydroxy-Chloroquine do not eradicate or even completely inhibit the coronavirus. They are merely useful at different stages of the infection to slightly reduce the morbidity and mortality rates among a carefully selected cohort of COVID-19 patients. All the hospital and intensive care treatments, ventilators, extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation ( ECMO ) machines, are by nature supportive only to help the severely ill patients through a very serious and stressful period and provide them with whatever their bodies would require to recover from the infection. Sadly, there are many who do not make it despite having the best care money can possibly buy. 

And then we will have to ask ourselves how we can protect those in our communities who in one way or other missed out on the vaccine. The most obvious groups would be the children and teenagers under the age of 16 years old, those who are pregnant and those with a past history of severe life threatening drug allergies. They are excluded in this initial round of vaccination. But what about those who had received the vaccine but subsequently failed to develop a lasting immunity against the coronavirus? The fact that the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective and that the Moderna vaccine is 94.1% effective against the development of symptomatic COVID-19 disease means that of every 100 persons vaccinated, roughly 5 would fail to acquire the intended protection. The figure is worst for the above 65 years old population as the Pfizer vaccine was found to be only 85% effective among the elderly. How then to protect the 15 out of every 100 elderly people whom though vaccinated still effectively missed out on the protection? If only every single vaccine eligible persons within the community could step out and receive the vaccine, they would create the herd immunity that would ring-fence and protect the vulnerable, those who had missed out on the vaccination through one reason or other. That way the entire community is protected and further transmission of the virus would cease and the pandemic might be put under control. Building up of the herd immunity through the act of vaccination is possibly the most cost-effective, scientific, morally and politically correct way to fight the coronavirus. The alternative would be to have the community acquire herd immunity through natural infection. Up to 70% or more of the population would have to be infected before herd immunity could be achieved by which time millions could have succumbed to the disease.

                                  Vaccine Roll Out with US Defense Health Agency Director LTG Ronald J Place

An electronics technician ( nuclear ) assigned to attack submarine
USS Jefferson City ( SSN-759 ) receives the COVID -19 vaccine
at Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickam 23rd Dec 2020. USN Photo.

As mentioned earlier, for the civil population in most democratic countries, COVID-19 vaccination is voluntary. This is good as with such high levels of vaccine skepticism and hesitancy, people are given a choice and are not coerced or forced to receiving the vaccine if they do not wish to for whatever reason. However, those serving in the military or other federal or municipal essential services sector like the police or the coast guard or the fire service may not have such luxury of choice when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination. As they frequently have to be in close contact with other people during the course of their work, they are at high risk of being infected. The critical nature of their jobs also means that they cannot afford to be falling sick and be taken off for sick leave for any protracted duration. Many will have to be deployed on overseas missions on land or at sea in regions that may have high rates of coronavirus transmission. Yet others might have the burden of national security on their shoulders, like for example the Gold and Blue crew of the Ohio-Class ballistic missile submarine, who absolutely cannot afford to have a coronavirus outbreak onboard their boat during a several month long nuclear deterrent mission. That is exactly why the members of the Strategic Services get top priority for vaccination in the US military. 

Several people in active military service that I have spoken to have either already received the first dose of the vaccine or were told that they would be having it soon, without any options to decline, much as I had expected. For many, it would come as an explicit order from the unit commander : get vaccinated, period.

Global COVID-19 Vaccination Drive

The UK became the first country to approve a stringently evaluated coronavirus vaccine on 2nd Dec and the first in the western world to start mass vaccination on 8th Dec 2020. At the time of writing, the biggest vaccination campaign in the history of humankind is taking place in 66 countries and so far a total of 107 million shots had been administered*. At present the rate of vaccination globally is approximately 4.22 million shots per day. Israel leads the pack with at least 20% of its population vaccinated while the UK and US have each achieved 10% and 7% respectively. With more than a hundred million doses administered cumulatively worldwide and no major adverse events reported, surely logic would tell us that the myriad of COVID-19 vaccines in general are safe. 

In the coming days and weeks, more countries will begin their vaccination campaigns, just as more COVID-19 vaccines are being approved for emergency use by the regulatory health authorities. Never in history had so many vaccines been administered in so short a time.

* Around 2nd Feb 2021, the number of vaccinated persons ( 107 million ) as surpassed the number of infected persons ( 104 million ) globally for the very first time since the start of the pandemic. A watershed moment.

The Legacy Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

The impact of the pandemic on every aspect of our life has mainly been negative but one of the rare positive outcome from this global epidemic would definitely be its role in accelerating the advancement in vaccine research and development. If not for COVID-19, who knows how long it would take for the first successful mRNA vaccine to be developed and when we would get our first ever approved vaccine against a human coronavirus disease. Before COVID-19, nobody with the right mind would predict that dozens of vaccines against the same disease could be concurrently developed and successfully achieve regulatory approval in a year or less. Already, a number of winners have appeared among the 150 or more COVID-19 vaccine candidates that started out a year ago. Now the World Economic Forum has an even more ambitious goal of producing a vaccine within 100 days of a pandemic. 

While the dust had more or less settled in the race to develop the first effective COVID-19 vaccine, another race had just began. And that is the race between countries to vaccinate as many of their own population as possible. The current challenge is for the manufacturers to churn out vaccines quickly to alleviate the acute shortage that every country faces. It will certainly go a long way to stem vaccine nationalism behaviors that some countries are increasingly exhibiting, like imposing vaccine export controls and vaccine hoarding. But these are mostly things above our pay scale. For the majority of us, we just have to do our part by accepting the vaccine when it comes our way .... 

COVID-19 ward, early 2020, China. Photo : China Daily

Johns Hopkins Global COVID-19 Map

 

Take Home Messages

COVID-19 disease is real and serious. It is not a hoax and it will not go away on its own. 

There is still no cure for COVID-19. Existing treatments are merely supportive in nature.

The COVID-19 vaccines approved by stringent regulatory authorities such as the US FDA and the UK MHRA for emergency use are generally safe and efficacious.

The risk of adverse reactions from COVID-19 vaccines are very low and are mostly transient and manageable.

There has been no COVID-19 vaccine related deaths so far. **

Achieving herd immunity through mass vaccination is our best bet to control the pandemic.

Unless vaccination is contraindicated, every eligible person should be vaccinated, if possible.

Get vaccinated as soon as available. Do not wait for others.

Get vaccinated even if there are low levels of COVID-19 transmission within your community. The situation is always fluid and can potentially deteriorate rapidly.

Many of the COVID-19 vaccines continue to demonstrate high levels of efficacy against the new mutant COVID-19 strains and can be readily adapted to deal with future mutations.

Vaccines alone will not put an end to the pandemic. Safe distancing, mask wearing and good personal hygiene must continue to be strictly observed even after vaccination has been completed.

Nobody is safe unless everybody is safe. No country is safe until every country is safe.

Do not believe in everything that you see or hear on the internet or social media. Fact check where necessary and make good use of your critical thinking skills. Believe in science, not rumours. Above all, NEVER drink bleach!

** Update 21 Apr 2021. Unfortunately this is no longer true. The Oxford AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been implicated in causing a rare but severe form of blood clotting event characterised by LOW platelet counts. Several have died. Known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia ( VIIT ), it has an incidence of 1 in 250000 vaccinations. This is still way lower than the risk of dying from severe COVID-19 disease, which stands at 2 in 1000 even for a young adult. 

This adverse reaction is peculiar to the two vector-based vaccines and are not observed in other vaccine brands such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The AZ and J&J vaccines are still generally safe to use especially for high risk individuals in communities with high transmission rates and where alternative vaccine brands are not available.