Ramp up vax vs. Omicron

AS THE Omicron variant continues to pose a threat to the healthcare system capacities, the national government underscored the need to ramp up vaccination across the country as the National Capital Region and its neighboring provinces registered a sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.

Acting Presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles urged other regions to step up their vaccination efforts to cushion the impact of Omicron and other variants to the country’s healthcare capacity, as seen in the NCR.

“Let us take advantage of increasing the vaccination in the regional areas. While we’re seeing a surge here in Metro Manila at yung mga kalapit na probinsya dito, we have to push for more vaccinations happening in the other regions,” Nograles said.

“We need to step up yung vaccination in other regions so that if Omicron or whatever variant goes and spreads dun sa mga regions, then we won’t see an overwhelming number of cases happening in the hospitals,” he added.

Nograles also pointed out that even if fully vaccinated, people should still avoid getting infected so as not to overwhelm healthcare capacities, including overwhelming the healthcare workers.

“Ayaw rin po natin na mataas ang hawaan kase ayaw rin po natin ma-overwhelm ang ating healthcare capacities, and that most importantly involves not getting our healthcare workers overwhelmed with so much work and cases that they have to take care of,” he said.

Nograles reiterated the importance of getting vaccinated, saying, all vaccines are safe, effective, and given for free. “The numbers clearly show how these can prevent serious cases of Covid-19; 85% po of Covid patients in our ICUs ay mga unvaccinated. Kaya malaking tulong ang bakuna para maprotektahan tayo laban sa Covid-19 at mga variant nito. Malinaw po ang ebidensya: ito ang ating pinakamabisang armas kontra Covid-19,” he explained.

According to the data from the National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard, more than 110 million doses have been administered nationwide. Of the target population for vaccination, 79.42% or 61,260,924 have already received a first dose, while 65.63% of the target population are fully vaccinated.

“Our experience with Covid-19 has shown us that we can contain this disease with prompt, decisive, and measured action on the part of the national government, our local government units, communities, our families, and ourselves, as individuals. This allowed us to overcome the threat posed by the Delta variant, and this will allow us to overcome the challenges posed by the Omicron variant,” Nograles said.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana also emphasized that although Omicron may be associated with milder symptoms for those who are fully vaccinated, it can still lead to severe or critical disease for the unvaccinated. In fact, he said that as much as 85% of people in the hospital who are sick with Covid-19 are unvaccinated, while up to 93% of those who die of the disease are unvaccinated.

“This is getting out of hand. Everyone is testing positive. Fortunately most are mild as long as they are vaccinated. If this keeps up, sooner or later we're all going to have some sort of exposure and we might all end up quarantining,” he said in a Facebook post, adding he is likely to shut down his physical clinic for now to protect his staff.

“(Wear face) Shield, (face) mask, (observe physical) distance, and (have) ventilation at all times. If I do end up in quarantine again, it'll actually be a break for me. But until then, we all need to keep taking care of all these people in the hospital. Healthcare workers who aren't sick are getting overloaded. We need to protect all our HCWs from further exposure. If too many of us get exposed or sick, the whole system will shut down. Please be honest when seeing us about your symptoms and your exposure.”

“If you are symptomatic, don't force a physical outpatient visit. Do telemed. If you are short of breath, please go to the ER. Inform your LGU if you are ill so they can contact trace properly. Yes it is inconvenient, but it will save lives. Work from home if you can. Please help us take care of you. We can't do that if we are sick or quarantined ourselves. Let's all do the right thing to protect one another. Stay safe,” he wrote on his social media page. (Mindanao Examiner)