With the first COVID-19 vaccination started in Japan on the 17th, Kazuhiro Araki (left), the director of the Tokyo Medical Center, is receiving the vaccine as the “#1 in Japan” vaccination. Tokyo = Reuters Yonhap News
In Japan, mutations of novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), which may reduce the vaccine effectiveness, have been discovered one after another. It is known that the infectivity is not strong, but voices such as strengthening tests according to the possibility of infection on the market are growing.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases confirmed that 91 people in the Kanto region, including Tokyo, and two people in the airport quarantine station, were infected with the new mutation. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases warned, “It could be a risk of infection control in the medium to long term.” The mutation identified this time is’E484K’, which is different from the mutations found in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil so far found in Japan. It appears to have been imported from abroad, but it is being confirmed which country it came from.
Takashi Wakita, head of the expert meeting in the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, head of the National Infectious Disease Research Institute said at a press conference that “there may be an immune escape property.” It explains that there is a concern that the immune effects obtained through infection or vaccination may weaken. Since vaccination has been in progress since the 17th in Japan, it is necessary to keep an eye on what it looks like.
In this regard, the possibility of weakening the effectiveness of the vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is discussed, but it is not clear to what extent. However, Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical company, a vaccine developer that started vaccination in Japan, published a paper in a medical magazine saying, “(Pfizer vaccine) has a small effect of mutation.”
Separately, on the 18th, the Tokyo Medical and Dental College reported a case of infection with various types of mutations prevalent overseas, including three people infected with E484K in Tokyo. Among them, there is a mutation called the’Canadian lineage’ that is prevalent in the United States, Belgium, and Canada, and there is a high possibility of infection on the market.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases began an actual condition survey to analyze epidemiological information according to age and severity of mutant infected persons found in quarantine stations such as airports and ports as the mutation spreads. This is to understand the characteristics and actual conditions of mutations in Japan, and mutations found in the UK have been found to be 70% more infectious than existing viruses.
Tokyo= Kim Hoe-kyung Correspondent [email protected]
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