Time.news – There is alarm in Japan for a new variant that is rather resistant to vaccines. The mutation of the virus – E484K – was discovered in the Tokyo university hospital, where most of the patients hospitalized for Covid-19 in March had been infected with the variant, commonly called Eek. It is about 10 out of 14 patients, equal to 70%. The news was released by the Japanese public broadcaster, NHK and reported by the Reuters agency.
Less than 4 months after the start of the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese health authorities warn against a possible new increase in infections, which they define “fourth wave”, mainly due to the variants. The concern derives above all from the greater degree of contagiousness of these forms of the virus, and their resistance to vaccines, which in Japan have not yet taken off.
In particular, the so-called “English variant” has taken hold in the region of Osaka, causing the cancellation of the local stages of the Olympic flame “relay”. Japan, about 126 million inhabitants, has so far recorded 486,592 cases of Covid and 4,785 deaths. The vaccines administered so far, according to Bloomberg’s counts, are 1.1 million, equal to 0.4% coverage.
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