DOH: Low booster coverage may still cause rise in COVID-19 cases

The COVID-19 situation in the country is still too uncertain to say that the disease has become endemic in the Philippines, Department of Health officer in charge Dr. Ma. Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday.

“Yes, endemicity will come soon (but) it’s quite uncertain because of this immunity that we are talking about. We are not certain and we cannot be confident to say," Vergeire said at a news briefing.

She pointed to the low immunity and the low booster coverage in the country.

“Mababa ang booster ng population ngayon kaya nakikita natin na maari pang tumaas ulit kung sakali yung mga sakit dito sa ating bansa and the effect of these subvariants to the immunity in the population," Vergeire said.

(The booster rate of the population is now low that's why we see that the cases in the country may still go up and the effect of these subvariants to the immunity in the population.)

"But we agree with Dr. Edsel, na mukhang dadating na tayo sa punto na 'yon. But right now, we cannot say that for certain,” she added.

(But we agree with Dr. Edsel that it looks like that we're going to reach that point. But right now, we cannot say that for certain.)

Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious diseases expert, said at a briefing earlier in the day that the COVID-19 situation seemed to have become endemic.

“Nakikita naman talaga natin dito sa COVID ay mukhang nagiging endemic na siya in the sense na magsi-circulate na iyan na parang sipon. Hindi na siya talaga mawawala na'ng todo," Salvana said.

(We can really see that COVID-19 seems to be becoming endemic in the sense that it's already circulating like the cold. It's not really going away completely.)

"And so, para sa mga ganitong klaseng illnesses, mayroon talagang fluctuations in the number of cases,” he added.

(And so, for this kind of illnesses, there are really fluctuations in the number of cases.)

Salvana also said that unlike before, the public now relied more on antigen kits than the RT-PCR tests. Results of antigen tests are not recorded.

Salvana said the country could handle the number of cases as long as the healthcare system remained open.

“COVID is really becoming endemic, na nagiging parang regular illnesses na rin siya bagama’t nakamamatay pa ito lalung-lalo na doon sa ating mga vulnerable population," Salvana said.

(COVID is really becoming endemic, that it's like becoming a regular illness althought it can still be fatal especially for the vulnerable population.)

Salvana encouraged the public to get boosters and properly wear face masks although the government has allowed the optional wearing of face masks.

“At as long (there is a) risk... we can use it as an additional tool for public health prevention," Salvana said.

He said the risk of dying from COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses can be minimized if all will wear masks. —NB, GMA Integrated News