Japan's Daily COVID-19 Cases Surpass 70,000... Vaccine Effectiveness Plummets to 52%

207 Times Increase in One Month
97% of Recent Cases Suspected Omicron

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young]Japan's daily COVID-19 cases have exceeded 70,000 for the first time.

According to the local public broadcaster NHK on the 26th, as of 7:30 PM that day, the number of new confirmed cases in Japan was counted at 71,633. This broke the previous day's record of 62,613 new cases, marking the highest number for two consecutive days. Over the past week up to that day, Japan's COVID-19 cases increased by 379,650. The rate of increase in confirmed cases on a weekly basis has risen approximately 207 times in one month.

Among the 47 prefectures nationwide, 34 regions are implementing quarantine measures equivalent to a state of emergency. Authorities have requested shortened business hours for restaurants and other establishments in areas where focused measures are applied, and depending on the judgment of the prefectural governors, the provision of alcoholic beverages may also be restricted.

According to Asahi Shimbun, an expert group advising the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on COVID-19 reported that 97% of recent confirmed cases across Japan are suspected to be infected with the Omicron variant.

According to a study on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines released by a research team including Nagasaki University, the effectiveness of the vaccine has significantly declined recently. From July to September last year, the effectiveness in preventing symptomatic infection was 89%, but a survey conducted from the 1st to the 21st of this month showed a decrease of 37 percentage points to only 52%, Kyodo News reported. The research team analyzed that the replacement of the Delta variant by the Omicron variant and the passage of time after vaccination are causes of the reduced effectiveness.

Based on the latest announcement by the Japanese government, the third dose vaccination rate for COVID-19 remains at only 2.3%. There is no definite means to curb COVID-19 at this time, and infections are expected to continue spreading rapidly for the time being.