A distinguished medical doctor and infectious disease expert was given free rein to interrogate a government official, unmediated and without apparent time restraint. The doctor in question was the distinguished oncologist, professor emeritus at Kyoto University and Representative of the Learning Health Society Institute (LHSI) Masanori Fukushima. His rigorous and passionate berating of an official from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) on COVID-19 vaccine safety and government transparency made for gripping viewing. A recording swiftly went viral, elevating Doctor Fukushima to a new status as leading critic of the COVID-19 vaccines in Japan.

I interviewed Professor Fukushima via Zoom on December 28th. He began by giving me some background to his career and explaining why he had become involved in the COVID-19 vaccine issue before moving on to the specific harms, his views of the Japanese Government's response and the way ahead.

Philip Patrick: Professor Fukushima, thank you for allowing me to speak to you. Could I start by asking you to give me some background to the event