By Gabriela Baron
The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday, Nov. 26, stressed that vaccination is the key to prevent emergence of new COVID-19 variants.
This after the Health department confirmed on Friday the detection of the “more transmissible” and “highly immune-invasive” Omicron subvariant BQ.1 in the country.
READ MORE: DOH detects 14 cases of BQ.1 subvariant
In a statement, DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said continued strengthening of surveillance systems is “key to living with COVID-19 in the new normal.”
“We have to start demystifying variants. Viruses naturally mutate with continued transmission–this is a natural occurrence,” Vergeire said.
“Alam din natin at ng ating mga eksperto iyan, kaya ang mas importante talaga ay pigilan ang pagpasa ng virus para maiwasan ang pag-mutate nito, at lalong importante na laging handa ang ating healthcare system to respond to these emerging variants,” she added.
Following the detection of BQ.1 in the country, Vergeire assured that the country’s healthcare utilization rate remains at low risk.
She also assured that preparatory activities “have already been initiated” to ensure that triage systems are in place and step-down health facilities are available if there will be an increase in healthcare utilization rate.
Vergeire also assured the public that all current vaccines remain effective in preventing severe and critical COVID-19, as well as death from COVID-19, regardless of variant.
“The science of COVID-19 is evolving–araw-araw may bagong datos na inaaral ang mga eksperto. Despite this, what is clear to us is that our layers of protection continue to be effective against COVID-19 and its variants. Particularly for vaccines, the challenge is ensuring that they remain effective against these emerging variants,” she added.
“As of now, all our vaccines continue to be effective against severe cases caused by detected variants. This is why we continue to appeal to our kababayan to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 on top of other layers of protection, to minimize transmission and in effect, the emergence of new variants.”
Vergeire also underscored the importance of bolstering the country’s surveillance system and its participation in global surveillance data-sharing initiatives and platforms to remain updated in COVID-19 vaccine developments. -ag
