OCTA Research fellows Ranjit Rye and Guido David yesterday said the easily transmissible subvariant of Omicron and the continuing relaxation of restrictions as the economy opens up remain a cause for concern even as COVID-19 numbers have remained low in all parts of the country.
David, appearing on the “Laging Handa” public briefing, said the new surge currently happening in South Africa, India and the United States need to be monitored closely as the same thing can easily happen in the country.
“Hindi natin dapat hintayin na magkaroon ng pagtaas ng bilang ng kaso. Itong mga panibagong subvariant, mas mabilis makapanghawa, 20 percent more transmissible kaysa doon sa kumalat sa atin na Omicron na BA.2 (We should be on alert against any increase in new cases. This new variant spreads faster, 20 percent more transmissible than Omicron BA.2),” David said.
He stressed that the public must continue to observe health protocols by wearing face masks in crowded places even as health authorities press on with the vaccination and booster shots program.
“Kapag magtulungan tayo, baka maiwasan pa natin itong pagtaas ng kaso. Kapag hindi, kapag naging kampante tayo at hindi tayo nagpapabakuna, puwedeng magdala ng pagtaas ng bilang ng kaso (If we all do our part, we can prevent an increase in new COVID-19 cases. Otherwise, if we get complacent and ignore vaccines, we might see another surge),” he warned.
He noted that in the US, new cases have reached 100,000 per day.
BOOSTERS
Rye, on the other hand, said a study conducted by OCTA as of April 22 to 25 showed more than 70 percent of those who have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines are willing to get booster shots.
On the other hand, 23 percent of the vaccinated adults have refused.
He said the latter group have voiced concerns about the safety of getting a third dose while another group believes a booster is now unnecessary.
“So, if you look at this, it has to do with information and really educating our kababayans about the importance of having an additional booster shot to extend our immunity against COVID-19,” he pointed out.
Despite the bigger number of those who are willing to get booster jabs, Rye noted that the relaxation of restrictions as the economy attempts to recover fast has the unintended consequence of giving some people the view that there is no more risk.
“Kailangan natin iyong tulong ng gobyerno, ng private sector dito, ng ating mga komunidad na siguraduhin po na ma-inform ang ating mga kababayan about the importance of having [the] booster [shot] or getting boosted (We need the assistance of the government and the private sector, the community to disseminate the correct information about the importance of getting boosted),” he added.
OMICRON
The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus is intrinsically as severe as previous variants, unlike assumptions made in previous studies that it was more transmissible but less severe, a large study in the United States has found.
“We found that the risks of hospitalization and mortality were nearly identical between periods,” said four scientists who conducted the study based on records of 130,000 COVID-19 patients, referring to times in the past two years when different variants were dominant across the world.
The study, which is undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio and was posted on Research Square on May 2, was adjusted for confounders including demographics, vaccination status, and the Charlson comorbidity index that predicts the risk of death within a year of hospitalization for patients with specific comorbid conditions.
The studies that assumed that the Omicron variant was less severe were conducted in various places including South Africa, Scotland, England, and Canada, said the scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, Minerva University and Harvard Medical School.
They said their study could have several limitations, including the possibility that it underestimated the number of vaccinated patients in more recent COVID waves, and the total number of infections, because it excluded patients who performed at-home rapid tests. — With Reuters
