A year following the arrival of the 新型コロナウイルス (shingata koronauirusu, novel coronavirus), a new katakana word has been popping up in Japanese headlines: ワクチン (wakuchin, vaccine).
While vaccinations against COVID-19 had already begun in other Western countries around the world, Japan saw its first vaccinations last week. 医療従事者をはじめ、高齢者や基礎疾患のある人を優先に接種が進められる (Iryō jūjisha o hajime, kōreisha ya kiso shikkan no aru hito o yūsen ni sesshu ga susumerareru, Starting with health care workers, the elderly and people with chronic conditions will be prioritized for receiving a vaccination). Your turn will come eventually, so it may be a good time to get used to the language of 接種の流れ (sesshu no nagare, the flow of inoculations).
[First lesson: 流れ (nagare, flow) is often used in nature — 川の流れ (kawa no nagare) means the flow of a river — but is also used in the flow of a system, such as in the term 流れ作業 (nagare sagyō, assembly line).]
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