Over 12.2 million Filipinos have received booster shots as of April 5
(Eagle News) – The Department of Health (DOH) urged the public to get booster shots against Covid-19 amid the threat of another Covid-19 variant, Omicron XE, that has been detected in Thailand.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that getting boosted against Covid would greatly help prevent from contracting the disease, even the new variant Omicrom XE.
“Bagama’t naririnig po natin ang pagkakaroon ng variant sa Thailand, atin pong unahan, magpabakuna na ng booster shot para extra protection ang meron tayo,” Vergeire said.
The DOH spokesperson explained that the protection from the COVID-19 vaccines wanes over time, and getting the booster shots would further protect the vaccinated members of the community from getting infected with a new variant.
She cited the cases of Hong Kong and New Zealand which both had a resurgence of Covid cases. But the difference is that in Hong Kong , there were 38 times more deaths per million than in New Zealand.
In Hong Kong, there were less than 25 percent of seniors aged 80 and above who have been vaccinated, while in New Zealand, more than 90 percent of these seniors have already been vaccinated,
“Ang pinag-iba ay mas maraming boosted individuals sa New Zealand, compared sa Hong Kong,” she said.
Vergeire said that being boosted gives an individual 80 percent more protection against the virus, citing a study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The DOH said that as of April 4, 2022, more than 12.2 million Filipinos have already been boosted.
Omicron XE is a variant under monitoring by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The XE strain was first identified on January 19 in the United Kingdom. The UK had confirmed 637 cases of XE variant through genetic sequencing as of March 25. On Saturday, April 2, Thailand reported its first Omicron XE case.
XE is a variant of the BA.1 and BA.2 strains of the Omicron variant.
The variant XE is said to be 10 percent more transmissible than BA.2, but more research is needed to confirm this, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Philippines has a surplus of Covid-19 vaccines and is currently negotiating so it could donate jabs nearing their expiry date to other countries, particularly Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.
(Eagle News Service)