The race against the Delta variant is still on and that, now more than ever, the country needs a national government-enabled, local government-led, and people-centered response, the Department of Health (DOH) said on July 20.
The first case of the COVID-19 Delta variant was first identified last December 2020 in India and has since spread in at least 98 countries.
It is deemed as highly transmissible, estimated to be approximately 40% to 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant, and is associated with increased hospitalization, DOH Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a public briefing.
“In the Philippines, only 0.5% of the sequenced samples are Delta variant cases. Our current border control measures have provided us a head start in the race against the Delta variant as the majority of the Delta variant cases have been detected in borders,” she said.
“Therefore, we need to maintain this head start to prevent a possible surge, particularly through the Four-Door Strategy,” she added.
Vergeire assured that vaccines remain effective against the Delta variant.
“Two or complete doses of vaccine are strongly effective even with the Delta variant. Despite the increase in cases, Public Health England demonstrated that two doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are still 92% effective against hospitalization and showed no deaths due to the Delta variant,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire said that there is a need to intensify the implementation and adherence to public health protocols and adequate health systems capacity to respond to cases must be ensured.
Four-Door strategy
Door 1: Point of Origin
To prevent the arrival of travelers from very high risk countries, travel bans and restrictions are imposed.
Door 2: Point of Entry
To contain and mitigate the cases, screening, quarantine, and testing at points of entry are conducted.
Door 3: Point of Care
To further prevent the local spread of COVID-19, Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR) strategy and vaccination are implemented.
Door 4: Epidemic Surge
To prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed, wide-scale community quarantines are imposed, as well as enhanced PDITR.
PH vax efficacy against Delta variant
An infectious disease specialist on July 21 said all vaccines with emergency use authorization (EUA) in the country remain effective against variants of concern, including the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Dr. Rontgene Solante said during the July 21 Palace briefing that Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen, and Covaxin are still effective against the Delta variant despite it being 97% transmissible.
Below are eight approved vaccines in the Philippines and their available records versus variants, according to Solante:
- Pfizer: Effective against Alpha, Beta, and Delta
- AstraZeneca: Effective versus Alpha and Delta
- CoronaVac: Effective against Alpha, but decreased neutralizing antibodies for Beta
- Sputnik V: Can “retain strong efficacy” versus severe COVID-19 from variant infection
- Moderna: Effective against Alpha, Beta, and Delta
- Janssen: Effective versus Beta and Delta
- Covaxin: Effective against Alpha and Delta
- Sinopharm: Effective against Beta
Read more: Do OK’d vaccines work against Delta variant? Expert says yes
Detected Delta variant cases in PH
As of Saturday (July 24), the COVID-19 Delta variant cases in the country climbed to 64.
The DOH confirmed on Thursday (July 22) the local transmission of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant in the Philippines, following the conduct of phylogenetic analysis and case investigation.
The DOH said it has not yet observed the beginning of a COVID-19 case surge in Metro Manila despite reported local Delta cases. The country is still under low risk classification, but 11 areas in the National Capital Region showed a positive two-week growth rate.
Read more: Delta local variant transmission confirmed in PH
– PTV News / CF/PG-rir