Breathlessness and a very high fever are just two of the symptoms of the new variant of the deadly coronavirus COVID-19.
Abdullahi Bukar, a medical doctor who works at the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital in Maiduguri, said the new variant was deadlier than the first.
He said there was no cure for the virus but researchers and scientists had been working hard to develop vaccines to try to halt its spread.
“There’s no cure for COVID-19 but experts have been working tirelessly to come up with vaccines to halt the virus spreading.
“The vaccine doesn’t cure the virus. It strengthens the patient’s immune system, which helps the body to fight the virus,” he said.
In an interview with Women’sHealth, Paula Cannon, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in the US, said: “Vaccines fool the body into thinking it’s being attacked without actually giving you the virus. Your body scrambles to make antibodies that are tailor-made to fight that virus and you retain those antibodies for life.”
Antibodies are proteins your immune system makes to fight infections like the coronavirus.
Malam Abubakar, a resident of Maiduguri, told RNI that he was aware of the new variant and that a doctor had told him the vaccines could not cure the virus but they could boost the immune system, enabling the body to fight it.
A resident from the Jere Local Government Area said he had heard people speaking about the new variant.
“Everyone is talking about it. Doctors have called on people to observe social distancing, avoid gatherings, wear masks, use sanitiser and wash hands with soap and clean water often.”
Hajja Falmata said she stopped watching the news some time ago and had not heard of the new variant.
Yagana Muhktar said she recently became aware of the new variant and had been told it was more deadly than the first and many people had died from it.
“I try as much as I can to protect myself. Everyone should be careful and observe the COVID-19 guidelines,” she said.
