OCTA fellow warns of Delta ‘resurge’ if boosters are not given

The Philippines may experience a ‘resurge’ of the highly contagious Delta variant if booster shots are not given, a fellow of the OCTA Research group said Thursday.

“As we continue to vaccinate our kababayans… we must prepare to administer boosters as our population immunity will wane after six to eight months,” OCTA fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said in a briefing.

“Otherwise the risk for Delta re-surge will increase,” he added.

He said this may occur in the first or second quarter of 2022.

Austriaco, however, stressed that a resurgence of the variant is “relatively low at this time simply because the Philippines vaccinated late.”

He earlier said the Filipinos who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 must still be prioritized in the government’s vaccination program.

The government is now planning the administration of booster shots and additional doses. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. previously said the government aims to begin the inoculation by November 15.

Booster shots are given when immunity is starting to wane off after several months since receiving the vaccine while additional doses, or the third doses, are given to individuals who cannot mount the appropriate immunity against the sickness.

Vaccination of children

Austriaco also stressed that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks among children.

“The risk for getting a heart inflammation condition from the vaccine substantially lowers the risk you would get from COVID-19,” he said, citing cases in the United States.

According to Austriaco acquiring the illness will become unavoidable.

“The world has resigned itself to living with COVID-19… what this definitely means is that everyone will get COVID-19 sometime in the future. You cannot avoid the flu, you cannot avoid a cold, you cannot avoid COVID-19,” he said.

“The risk for severe conditions is much higher for natural infection of COVID-19 than it is with vaccination… it’s not a question about vaccination and nothing,” he added.

He also pointed out that this is different from the country’s experience with Dengvaxia.

“Vaccinating our children with a COVID-19 vaccine is very different from the context of Dengvaxia. Because we already have 15 million American children who have been vaccinated with COVID-19,” he said.—AOL, GMA News

OCTA fellow warns of Delta ‘resurge’ if boosters are not given
Source: Filipino Viral News PH