The Department of Health is looking at the link of the newly detected South African COVID-19 variant in the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in Pasay City.
“The probability is always there because there are variants detected and the cases are rising, but we need to do a thorough analysis for us to be able to really confirm and say that the variants are the cause of this increase in cases,” Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.
The DOH said that while variants can hasten transmission, there are other factors that could lead to an increase of COVID-19 cases.
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The DOH reported on Tuesday that there are six South African variant cases in the country, three of them are in Pasay City.
Vergeire said that there is a need to contain the South African variant quickly because it has the tendency to make the recent COVID-19 vaccines less effective.
“Instead na your antibodies will be working for you against the specific disease, hindi niya magagawa yun because of the effect of this variant, kaya sinasabi nila na makakabawas sa efficacy ng isang bakuna,” she said.
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The health official said that containment is very important against the new variant.
“Kaya nga gusto natin, as much as possible, fast containment tayo nitong variant na ito so that we can prevent it to further spread,” she said. (TDT)
