The Vaccine Expert Panel on Thursday warned the public about the possibility of another spike in Covid-19 cases as people’s immunity against the virus may be waning.
In a public briefing, Dr. Nina Gloriani, head of the VEP, said that waning immunity, along with other factors, could potentially speed up the increase of Covid-19 cases.
“The waning immunity, increased mobility, and the near-approaching Christmas will drive more people to go out and shop. Since it has been so long since they get inoculated, the antibodies and T-cells will decrease; there will be another possible breakthrough infection,” Gloriani said.
Breakthrough infection occurs when an individual contracts Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Likewise, Gloriani said the low booster uptake will play a role in the potential spike in the number of infections.
“It is slow. Before, maybe a month or two, 24 percent had already been given a booster. Now, it’s at 25 percent. It only increased a bit,” she said.
Earlier this week, Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that at least 19.7 million Filipinos were inoculated with booster shots.
Gloriani reminded Filipinos, especially those most vulnerable such as senior citizens and people with comorbidities, to get vaccinated with Covid-19 booster shots.
“It is important for the public to understand, especially those who are old and have diseases, that the booster shots will increase their protection, especially against the variants that are circulating now,” she said.
Complacency
The official also reminded the public not to be complacent and to adhere to health protocols, adding that the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic still remains.
“They are becoming complacent, the frequent going out is already mobility. It is very important that we should still follow, especially for the senior citizens and people with comorbidities to still wear masks even though it’s now optional,” she said.
“Let us continue to do it because it is still here, the virus will stay here for a long time. Although we are seeing that a lot of people are having mild (symptoms), it is the same with older people, it was not mild to them,” she added.
On Tuesday, the Health department reported a total of 1,347 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the country’s caseload to 3,957,112.
The National Capital Region contributed the highest number of cases in the recent two weeks with 13,559 infections. It was followed by CALABARZON with 5,616, Central Luzon with 2,836, Davao Region with 1,360, and SOCCSKSARGEN with 747.
Meanwhile, the recovery tally climbed by 2,637 to 3,867,242 and the death toll increased to 63,078 with 36 new fatalities recorded.