Vaccination must be stepped up in light of the Delta variant — DOST

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines July 29) — Members of the Department of the Science and Technology’s vaccine expert panel said the target number of people to be vaccinated must be raised to achieve herd immunity especially in light of the Delta variant.

“We need to aim higher and do it faster. So, yung dati nating 60% to 70%, baka 85% to 90% na yan… This Delta variant is a real concern,” Dr. Nina Gloriani, the head of the panel, said at a virtual briefing on Thursday.

[Translation: We need to aim higher and do it faster. So, if it was 60% to 70% before, it could be 85% to 90%… This Delta variant is a real concern.]

Infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the vaccine panel, said the current target of 70% was not enough.

“You need to vaccinate everyone more than that because you want to prevent symptomatic infection. Symptomatic ibig sabihin regardless of what is the severity. So, for us to get a better immunity at the population level, siguro pataasan natin yung target natin in a scenario na meron na tayong Delta variant,” he said at the briefing.

[Translation: You need to vaccinate everyone more than that because you want to prevent symptomatic infection. By symptomatic we mean regardless of the severity. So, for us to get a better immunity at the population level, we could raise the target in a scenario where the Delata variant exists.]

Knowing the percentage of Delta variant infection in the daily case updates will give more information on how much the target needs to be bumped up, he added

However, both experts said pediatric vaccination is still being discussed

“Ang limitations natin dito ay yung studies ng mga bata, wala pa tayong ganong bakuna na maganda ang studies. And remember these are children, higher risk din ito sa mga adverse reaction,” Solante said.

[Translation; The limitation here is the studies on children, there still isn’t enough on vaccines where there are good results. And remember children have a higher risk of adverse reactions.]

Gloriani added the issue was still being discussed with the Philippine Pediatric Society.

According IATF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon, over 18 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country as of July 27, including over six million second doses.