Health authorities said that the country is well prepared to combat the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The data as of January 6, 2022, show: some 51.66 million Filipinos were already fully vaccinated, roughly 57.45 million are still waiting for their second doses of the vaccine, and about 2.81 million already received their booster shots.
COVID-19 vaccination in the country started in March 2021.
According to studies, the Omicron variant is more infectious than the Delta variant that causing a devastating surge in the country from August to September last year.
Octa Research, private polling, research, and consulting firm, likened Omicron to a blessing and the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Through it, its expert says, people will achieve immunity.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that it was wishful thinking to believe that the Omicron variant would be the last to emerge in the pandemic. It said that with variant’s high level of transmission and with billions of people worldwide who are still unvaccinated, there is an opportunity for this variant to spread and generate new variants.
The Philippine government believes that boosting its vaccination program against COVID-19 will help the country in managing the new surge due to the Omicron variant.
The national government is set to start the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years once the country receives its vaccine orders from Pfizer. It also aims to give full COVID-19 jabs to 70 million Filipinos by March 2022.
Palawan’s geographic location can be considered as an advantage that COVID-19 infection cannot easily enter the island province, including Puerto Princesa City, but that does not mean that we will become complacent.
Puerto Princesa, as of this week, already vaccinated 153,000 of its residents, close to its 210,000 target population to be vaccinated to attain herd immunity.
The COVID-19 vaccines are expected to offer protection against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths from the Omicron variant — as well as other variants. Just like the Delta variant, breakthrough infections will happen among the fully vaccinated, but the vaccine will protect against severe illness.
The emergence of the Omicron variant underscores the importance of vaccinations, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19. People aged 5 years and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, therefore, the national government should exert effort to immediately start the rollout for the vaccination of children ages 5-12 years old. All who are eligible should receive the vaccine to prevent the spread of the new variant.
While COVID-19 remains to be a threat to our existence, we are not helpless. Vaccination and strict adherence to health protocols plus a healthy lifestyle and diet remain to be the top weapons we have at our disposal. May we not succumb to complacency while the enemy is still around.
Discussion about this post