ADDED PROTECTION | The San Juan City government rolled out its second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised adults on April 26, 2022. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion on Saturday said all signs seemed to suggest that Filipinos are learning to live with COVID-19.
Based on data from the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, vaccination rates hardly moved in the past month, with only 18.1 million booster vaccinations administered despite the 71.5 million people who are eligible for it.
“While we will continue to encourage our citizens to take the boosters, it still is a challenge,” Concepcion said.
OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said it would be incorrect to dismiss low booster rates as mere signs of complacency. “The Filipino people appear to have moved beyond vaccines,” he said, adding that people are now weighing how much risk is acceptable to them.
“They see people around them with mild illness, and they appear to have concluded that the cost of getting a booster is greater than the risk of getting sick with mild Omicron COVID-19,” he said.
Natural immunity
Concepcion also observed that the preferred use of antigen testing may also be contributing to the underreporting of cases. “I believe more people are infected but most are not reporting the cases anymore since antigen testing is what is used more often,” he added.
He said this may also be contributing to low booster uptake because those who are being infected do not bother to take boosters anymore.
“Omicron will act as a booster for those who get it,” said Austriaco, going so far as to say that he believes natural infection is significantly better than the Omicron booster that is being rolled out in the United States because there is significant data showing that natural immunity is more robust than vaccine immunity.
Nonetheless, he said, “We should still try to avoid illness when we can. Get a booster!”
‘Should be optional’
Hybrid immunity, or immunity from both vaccination and infection, has been cited as one of the reasons for the relatively low incidences of Covid deaths compared to this time last year, when as many as 2,170 deaths were reported within a single week.
The Department of Health’s COVID-19 tracker reported 108 deaths from Aug. 18 to 24, though it cautions that the figure may not be final as reporting catches up with the tally.
As for easing outdoor masking mandates, Concepcion said he supports Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos’ willingness to see how Cebu City will fare in its attempt to lift outdoor masking requirements.
“I feel outdoor masking should be optional. It allows Filipinos to manage their risks,” said Concepcion.
He is now looking at mitigation as a strategy and believes that stocking up on antiviral pills like Molnupiravir and Paxlovid would be the more practical move.
“People are starting to get together, to go out, return to normal activities, and some of them will get infected,” Concepcion said.
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