DOH awaits outcome of WHO meeting on new COVID variant
THE Department of Health (DOH) is awaiting word from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, which is believed to be more transmissible.
Dr. Beverly Ho, DOH director, yesterday said the WHO is set to meet within the day and may come up with a statement later in the day or on Saturday.
“Nagpapa-meeting po ‘yung WHO ngayong araw. Kakalabas lang ng kanilang advisory at malalaman natin later in the day or siguro tomorrow kung ano yung hatol dito,” she said.
The B.1.1.529 variant was found to have at least 10 mutations compared to two for Delta or three for Beta, and is being blamed for a surge of infections in South Africa.
Reports said daily infections in South Africa jumped to more than 1,200 on Wednesday from 100 earlier this month.
Experts abroad have expressed concern that the variant may make vaccines less effective due to its spike protein, which is different from the original coronavirus that vaccines are based on.
But according to Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert and a member of the DOH-Technical Advisory Group, higher number of mutations does not necessarily mean that the variant has higher transmissibility or resistance to vaccines.
“So while nakakabahala ‘yung presence of certain mutations, hindi automatic na nakakamatay ito o mas natra-transmit o mas bumababa ‘yung epekto ng ating vaccines,” he said.
Salvana also assured the public that anti-COVID-19 measures remain in place all over the world.
“And the fact na na-detect na itong variant na ito at pinag-uusapan na ng WHO, ‘yung UK nga nag-travel ban na sila, it shows na ‘yung ating global genomic surveillance is working. Hopefully, we can prevent the spread of any new variants that come up,” he said.
Salvana also reminded the public that compliance with minimum health protocols remains effective against the virus and that vaccines can still give protection against severe COVID-19.
