Philippines needs to prepare for Omicron XE – Eleazar
MANILA, Philippines — Senatorial candidate Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the Department of Health (DOH) should prepare for the possible entry of the Omicron XE subvariant into the country.
This means keeping an eye on the country’s utilization rate of health care facilities and the rate of COVID-19 vaccination and administration of booster shots.
He hoped the new subvariant would not lead to a new surge as he appealed to the public to continue to be careful and follow health protocols.
This as the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) expressed alarm on the subvariant and the low rate of administering booster shots.
At least 12.2 million individuals have received their booster shots while some 66.2 million Filipinos or about 74 percent of the government’s 90-million target population are already fully vaccinated against coronavirus.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvaña has said that Omicron XE could be more concerning among other subvariants because of its transmissibility. He added, however, that it might not affect the efficacy of current anti-COVID vaccines.
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