For foreigners in Shiga, Shiga Prefecture has opened a telephone consultation hotline for the H1N1 swine flu .

The phone No. is:

077-522-4776

You can speak in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, or Chinese.

Consultation hours are 8:30 am to 5:15 pm.

Meanwhile, flu vaccinations started in Shiga on Nov. 2 for pregnant women and people with vulnerable heath conditions. Shiga currently has the vaccine for 7,000 people. They are starting with hospital patients. Pregnant women who are outpatients will be vaccinated from mid-Nov.

Children age 1 to 3rd grade will be vaccinated from mid-Dec., and children from 4th grade up to high schoolers and the elderly will be vaccinated from January.

Vaccinations are by appointment only. The cost is a few thousand yen.

See Shiga’s flu updates in English here:
http://www.pref.shiga.jp/multilingual/infuluenza/english/index.html