COVID 19 Vaccine Waiver "Not routinely available"

[J.. 0]

Does anyone have any experience foregoing the covid vaccination requirements using a "Not routinely available" waiver? We have the option to do so but not sure if anyone had trouble during the interview process for this reason.

 

Background: Our case has been accepted for expedited processing while in the NVC process. Fees have been paid on April 24, 2024 and both I-864 and DS-260 have been submitted, April 27, 2024 and April 28, 2024 respectively. Civil documents have not been uploaded yet. We received an email the very next day on April 29, 2024 from NVCExpedite stating the "Embassy accepted our case for expedited processing". On the ceac website, we received a message in our inbox that same day April 29, 2024 that just reads "Case has been expedited to post", which I know now 'post' means embassy or consulate. My understanding from the email sent by the NVC is that we will continue our case at the Embassy/Consulate level at this moment in time. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong. We're assuming our packet should be arriving at the Tokyo Embassy soon.

 

We want to start the medical process prior to our packet arriving at the embassy. After calling all designated visa medical examination facilities in Tokyo, one medical facility requires a COVID vaccination before scheduling an appointment and the other does not require covid vaccination but notified us that "it may not be accepted during the interview". Diving in more we are asking if we can forego the covid vaccination by documenting the "Not routinely available" blanket waiver. Both the Embassy in Tokyo website and Department of State point to the CDC guidelines stating this waiver. The CDC guidelines also mention that the 'Not routinely available' blanket waiver should be used if "...the required vaccine is not licensed or not routinely available..." and "...panel physicians are required to make every reasonable effort to have vaccines that are required for US immigration available for applicants...". The best advice we received from one of the medical facilities is to go to a military base to get the covid vaccine! This should not be the case at all. We have called many medical facilities not listed as a designated facility and all do not admit patients for the covid vaccine as a normal check up, my wife's main physician included. The Prime Minister's Office of Japan explains covid vaccinations as "free" but has no further guidance and points to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare(MHLW) for more information. The MHLW states "...all others will be vaccinated once per year..." and the vaccination program ends March of 2024, which is over now and the links to file for a vaccination ticket are taken down. This is conflicting information. 

 

After speaking on the phone with a representative at the U.S. Visa Information Services and in my thorough research, its ultimately its up to the Panel Physician. I'm just wondering if anyone has experience with using a "Not routinely available" blanket waiver. Otherwise I'm paying 60,000JPY, which is about 385USD, out of pocket for a covid vaccine that doesn't include the plane ride to get there from where she currently lives. The covid vaccine would cost more than paying for the medical exam. I hope no one has to go through this. 🤦‍♂️

[OldUser 5,045]

If you can get the vaccine - get it. Waiver will slow you down and there's no guarantee it will be granted. Immigration costs money.

[jan22 2,907]

The “not routinely available” vaccination waiver is not one that the applicant applies for or asks to invoke.  It is a decision of the panel physician that the particular vaccine is not usually available in the country (I.e., a particular vaccine is not routinely administered in the normal vaccine regimen of a country and, therefore, providers do not stock it).  It is not used when there is a vaccine available in the country, but is not necessarily easy to get.  I think it extremely unlikely that a panel physician in Japan would say that a COVID vaccine was not routinely available in Japan (assuming that’s where you are from your profile).

Edited May 10 by jan22

[SteveInBostonI130 3,328]

22 hours ago, Jered said:

Does anyone have any experience foregoing the covid vaccination requirements using a "Not routinely available" waiver? We have the option to do so but not sure if anyone had trouble during the interview process for this reason.

 

 

It is "routinely available".  The only thing that happened recently is that as of April 1, 2024, Covid 19 vaccines are no longer free.  I believe it is about $100.

 

Quote

The COVID-19 vaccine is available free of charge until the end of March, and from April it will become a routine inoculation, scheduled to be given once a year from fall to winter. On the other hand, vaccinations for healthy people under the age of 65 will be treated as "voluntary" from April onward, with the full cost to be borne by the individual. The central government subsidy will not be applied, and the cost is expected to vary depending on the medical institution.

 

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240319/p2a/00m/0li/001000c

[J.. 0]

15 hours ago, OldUser said:

If you can get the vaccine - get it. Waiver will slow you down and there's no guarantee it will be granted. Immigration costs money.

@OldUser It just blows my mind that the only place we found that gives the right dosage for the medical exam is in another prefecture. The cheapest way to get to the location we found would cost about a $120 for a flight, plus a train ride and a hotel for the night. We'll do whatever it takes to meet the requirements but its ridiculous how much it costs just to get a covid vaccine..

 

 

 

14 hours ago, jan22 said:

The “not routinely available” vaccination waiver is not one that the applicant applies for or asks to invoke.  It is a decision of the panel physician that the particular vaccine is not usually available in the country (I.e., a particular vaccine is not routinely administered in the normal vaccine regimen of a country and, therefore, providers do not stock it).  It is not used when there is a vaccine available in the country, but is not necessarily easy to get.  I think it extremely unlikely that a panel physician in Japan would say that a COVID vaccine was not routinely available in Japan (assuming that’s where you are from your profile).

@jan22 It just doesn't make sense how you have bend over backwards to find a clinic that administers the COVID vaccine for healthy people.
 

 

 

3 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 

It is "routinely available".  The only thing that happened recently is that as of April 1, 2024, Covid 19 vaccines are no longer free.  I believe it is about $100.

 

 

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240319/p2a/00m/0li/001000c

@SteveInBostonI130 I've seen this post earlier. The problem we are having is finding a clinic that is administering the said $100 vaccine. We're still asking around but we haven't found any clinic that would administer through appointment. Otherwise we're waiting until the fall for the routine inoculation, which is not good because our case has been expedited to the embassy almost 2 weeks ago.

[OldUser 5,045]

6 hours ago, Jered said:

We'll do whatever it takes to meet the requirements but its ridiculous how much it costs just to get a covid vaccine..

I get the pain, but in the US, a simple XRay scan can cost $2000-5000. Luckily, almost entire amount is covered by medical insurance if you have one. My point is, you'll be paying similar amounts for medical visits here easily.

Edited May 11 by OldUser

[OldUser 5,045]

6 hours ago, Jered said:

@jan22 It just doesn't make sense how you have bend over backwards to find a clinic that administers the COVID vaccine for healthy people.

US set all of these vaccination requirements to ensure the general public is safe, e.g. to reduce number of endemics started by unimmunnized people immigrating. Generally, with US immigration you have to to everything humanely possible to satisfy various requirements during the proccess. Waivers are available for very exceptional cases. This is because burden of proof is on you and not USCIS / DOS.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Edited May 11 by OldUser