DOH: More transmission can lead to more mutations of COVID-19

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday stressed that the coronavirus has a higher chance of mutating if more people get infected with the illness.

“Mas maraming infections, mas maraming tsansa ang virus na magkaroon ng replication, which is their cycle, ano, at nakakapag-reproduce po sila,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Palace briefing.

(If there are more infections, there is a higher chance for the virus to replicate, which is their cycle. They can reproduce.)

“At ang pinakaimportante, mas nagkakaroon ng tsana ang virus na mag mutate (most importantly, this will give the virus a higher chance to mutate),” she added.

Vergeire issued the remark when sought for comment on the statement of an OCTA fellow that the more transmissible Omicron variant is the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

According to Fr. Nic Austriaco, a molecular biologist, the Omicron variant could provide population immunity through the antibodies of those who have recovered.

‘Remain vigilant’

However, Vergeire urged the public to remain vigilant and not voluntarily get infected with the illness due to such statements.

“Hindi ganyan ang direksyon ng ating response dito. Kailangan pa rin natin mag ingat, kailangan natin pigilang dumami ang infection para mapigilan po natin ang pag produce ng mas maraming variants ng virus na ito,” she said.

(This is not the direction of our response. We need to be careful, we need to prevent further transmission so we can prevent the variant from further producing.)

Meanwhile, Dr. Edsel Salvana and Dr. Anna Ong-Lim, members of the DOH Technical Advisory Group, said the coronavirus has continued to surprise them.

Salvana stressed that the variant is not a vaccine.

“Ang Omicron po ay virus, hindi po siya bakuna, at hindi katulad ng mga bakuna natin na very safe at hindi nakakahawa ng ibang tao, itong Omicron po pwede pa din mag dulot ng malaking pinsala,” he said.

(Omicron is a virus. It’s not a vaccine, and it’s not like vaccines that are very safe and are not contagious. Omicron can cause harm.)

Meanwhile, Ong-Lim said that though there are studies showing that those who have recovered from Omicron have antibodies that are effective against Delta, there is no definite proof that it is effective against other variants of concern.

Ong-Lim said she also cannot say the variant is the end of the pandemic.

“So although, gusto natin ito na ‘yung pinakahuli, wala nang susunod na variant, unfortunately, hindi pa natin masasabi with certainty na ito na ang katapusan ng COVID-19,” she said.

(So although we want this to be the last, that there will be no further variants, unfortunately, we cannot say with certainty that this is the end of COVID-19.)

“Sana totoo, sana mag-dilang anghel si Father. Pero siguro mas maganda pa din mag-ingat. ‘Wag sadyain mahawa on the assumption na hindi na mahahawaan ulit ng iba pa at ipagpatuloy ang pagiingat,” she added.

(I hope it’s true, but we should be careful. Don’t voluntarily try to acquire the sickness one the assumption that you will no longer test positive and continue to be careful.)

At present, the Philippines has confirmed 43 cases of the Omicron variant. 

1918 flu pandemic

Citing the 1918 flu pandemic, Austriaco maintained that the Omicron variant is the beginning of the end of the COVID-19.

According to Austriaco, the flu pandemic began to end when the H1N1 virus became weaker.

“One of the reasons why I pointed out the other day that Omicron is a good sign that we are at the beginning of the end is that this it is for the first time a weaker variant,” he said.

He said that during the flu pandemic, a weaker variant protected individuals from a more lethal variant that appeared later in the year.

“There was a paper published in the journal of infectious diseases that the milder variant, the one that happened in February, March, and April, if someone got sick with the milder variant, it protected them against the more severe variant later that year,” he said.

Austriaco, however, stressed that Omicron is still a killer.

“Even though Omicron could help sustain population immunity, even though it is milder than delta, it is still a killer. So it’s important that every single one of our kababayan still get vaccinated and boosted,” he said.

“It might help the country as a whole, it might be a blessing in disguise at the end of this surge that we replace a deadly variant like Delta with Omicron but for individuals, it will still kill and we don’t want individual people to die,” he added.— RSJ, GMA News