A health expert on Tuesday said that caution should be maintained amid reports of a sublineage of the highly transmissible Omicron variant identified as a BA.2 or the "Stealth Omicron."
Dr. Nina Gloriani, Department of Science and Technology vaccine development expert panel head, told DZRH that the subvariant has slight differences with Omicron, but experts have yet to identify its properties.
"Ibig sabihin malapit siya sa Omicron, mayroong konting ibang changes pero sa ngayon ito ay considered a variant under investigation pa lang so hindi pa talaga alam kung ano ang kanyang properties," she said in an interview.
(This means it is close to Omicron, only with slight changes. But for now, it is still considered a variant under investigation so we don’t know about its properties yet.)
It remains unknown whether the subvariant could evade immunity provided by the vaccines, but Gloriani said observations on the subvariant showed that infected patients are experiencing mild symptoms.
"Hindi pa nalalaman kung nag-eevade siya ng immune response dun sa mga bakuna," she said.
(We still don’t know if it is evading immune response from the vaccines.)
"Sa ngayon yung nakikita nila hindi naman grabe, mild pa rin. Parang Omicron din lang. But we have to know ano talaga dun sa iba yung mangyayari kaya nga siya under investigation pa lang," she added.
(So far, they observed that it is not really severe, it’s still mild, like Omicron. But we have to know what happens to others, which is why it is still under investigation.)
There are no cases of the Stealth Omicron reported in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health (DOH), but it has been reported in other countries including Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Gloriani said caution should be observed so the subvariant cannot enter the country, and vaccinations should be intensified to increase the population's protection.
"'Yung mga pag-iingat naman natin dapat nandyan lang parati, talagang paiigtingin natin para hindi makapasok. And then we ramp up our immunization coverage para mas mataas ang ating proteksyon," she said.
(Caution should always be there. We should be intensifying it so it won’t enter the country. And then we ramp up our immunization coverage to increase our protection.)
Omicron has surpassed Delta and became the dominant variant in the Philippines, according to the DOH, with the variant driving new COVID infections to record highs as of late.
