More COVID-19 infections may lead to more variants—expert

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) — An expert warned that more COVID-19 mutations could emerge as infections rise.

“As more and more infections develop, if we are not able to control the spread of the virus, the virus again will have more chances of mutating,” Dr. Marissa Alejandria, member of the technical working group on COVID-19 variants said on Thursday.

The Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday that the UK variant, which is believed to be more contagious, is now in the Philippines. It was detected from samples from a Filipino who returned home from United Arab Emirates on January 7.

Prior to this, the government has implemented restrictions on foreign travelers from 33 countries and regions which have reported cases of the new variant. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday said he will recommend including the UAE in the travel restrictions.

Despite this, Alejandria assured that the COVID-19 vaccines being developed and used across the world are still expected to work against the new variant, “but we should continue to monitoring the impact of the vaccine.”

Doctors Anna Ong-Lim and Edsel Salvana, who are also members of the technical working group shared the same sentiment.

Lim said it would be better if the vaccination program was implemented earlier to ensure that many Filipinos are already protected from the virus.

Meanwhile, Salvana said what is important now is to decrease the risk of severe disease and deaths because of COVID-19, or its clinical efficacy.

“Kahit sabihin nating 50% ang efficacy ng isang bakuna para ma-prevent ang COVID-19 pero 100% doon ay hindi mamatay then magiging useful pa rin ang bakunang iyon,” he noted.

[Translation: Even if we say a vaccine is 50% effective to prevent COVID-19 but it can prevent deaths 100% then it will still be useful.]

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, the first to be granted emergency use authorization in the country. Based on its phase 3 clinical trial, it was 95% effective in preventing infections after a person received two shots.

EUA application of AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and most recently China’s Sinovac are still being processed by the regulator.