The country’s Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) has maintained that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines that are available in the Philippines provide protection against the coronavirus variants, including the Lambda variant, which was detected in the country.
“Yung mga bakuna ay nakakaprotekta rin lahat dito sa mga variants na ito against the severe form of COVID due to variants (The vaccines provide protection against all these variants, against the severe form of COVID due to variants),” VEP head Dr. Nina Gloriani said during the Laging Handa public briefing on Monday, Aug. 16.
She made the assurance, a day after the Department of Health (DOH) announced the detection of the first case of the Lambda variant of the coronavirus in the country.
Apart from the first case of the Lambda variant, the Health department also reported the detection of additional 182 cases with the Delta variant, 66 cases with the Beta variant, 41 cases with the Alpha variant, and 40 cases with the P.3 variant.
In an interview with the Manila Bulletin on June 23, Gloriani assured the public all COVID-19 vaccines could ward off any severe forms of COVID-19 even with variants.
Gloriani said the VEP will still have to find out whether or not the Lambda variant could be resistant to vaccines.