There are fresh fears as Japan yesterday reported about 238,735 new coronavirus cases posting the second-highest daily count after some 249,800 cases earlier confirmed on Thursday.
The daily tally of new COVID-19 deaths in the country rose to 161, while the number of severely ill patients rose by 38 from Thursday to 516, topping 500 for the first time in about four months.
Eleven of the country’s 47 prefectures saw the daily number of new infections hit a record high. They are Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Ishikawa, Yamanashi, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kochi and Nagasaki.
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In Tokyo, new cases dropped by 5,067 from a week before to 35,339, with the seven-day average climbing 4.4 pct week on week to 32,700.
The Japanese capital confirmed 15 new COVID-19 fatalities on the day, while the number of very ill patients under the metropolitan government’s criteria rose by four from the previous day to 39.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib has reiterated that COVID-19 vaccine trains the body immune system to create antibodies.
She made this known in a recent chat with Newsmen.
Shuaib had also revealed that some of the vaccines also help the body to make antibodies that serve as proteins that fight off infections and diseases. He explained that if someone is vaccinated and comes in contact with a bacteria/virus that cause diseases, the system will recognise it and give some level of protection.
‘The COVID-19 vaccination offers partial protection within two weeks of the first dose.
‘This is why it is recommended that all doses of the vaccine are taken for longer-term protection against the virus’, he said.
The spike protein in the COVID-19 vaccine allows it to enter the human cells and guard the body, the NPHCDA boss added.
‘This means that if you choose to take a vaccine, you are less likely to get severely sick if you encounter the virus,’ he said.
Shuaib assured that the vaccines do not contain a live virus and cannot cause disease.