Health protocols, vaccines protect vs COVID-19 variants – expert
VACCINATION ROLLOUT People belonging to vulnerable sectors get their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines at the University of San Agustin Gymin Iloilo City. —ARNOLD ALMACEN
MANILA, Philippines — A health expert reminded the public on Saturday that minimum public health standards would work against all COVID-19 variants amid efforts to prevent the more infectious Delta variant from spreading in the country.
Eva Maria de la Paz, executive director of the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health, said any vaccine would offer some protection against any variant.
But it is not the only form of protection.
De la Paz said the government continued to strengthen border controls to detect and prevent the transmission of the variants, especially the Delta one that is more transmissible and could cause more severe symptoms.
She also said continued practice of minimum public health standards, particularly the wearing of face masks and face shields, the frequent washing of hands, and the observation of physical distancing, were also effective against the variants.
“Our minimum health standards and form of treatment both remain the same and continue to be effective whatever variant there is now,” she said at the Laging Handa briefing.
And while she maintained that any vaccine offers protection, she said she hoped that Sinovac and Gamaleya would release data on the effectiveness of their COVID-19 vaccines against the Delta variant.
She noted that the published study on the matter covered AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, which were used in the United Kingdom where the study was conducted.
“We also hope that we get this kind of data from Sinovac and Sputnik, but I will repeat: Whatever the vaccine, whatever the variant, vaccination will still protect us somehow,” she said.
A total of 17 cases of the Delta variant have been recorded in the Philippines, brought in by incoming international travelers.The country has not logged any local case of the Delta variant, De la Paz said.
