An infectious disease expert said Monday, Aug. 16, that the Delta variant is more concerning than the Lambda variant of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Philippines confirmed on Aug. 15 the detection of its first case of the coronavirus variant first identified in South America, in the midst of the country’s battle against the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Dr. Edsel Salvana said the Lambda variant is still a “variant of interest” unlike the Delta variant which has been tagged as “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization.

“Ibig sabihin, it’s a lower level than yung tinatawag na ‘variants of concern’ katulad nung Delta (This means that it’s in a lower level than the so-called ‘variants of concern’ like the Delta),” Salvana said in a Palace briefing.

The health expert underscored that the need to monitor the newly detected coronavirus variant in the country.

“Kailangan lang talaga natin itong bantayan. Sa akin, mas nakakatakot pa rin talaga ang Delta (We just really need to monitor it. To me, Delta is even scarier actually),” Salvana said.

Likewise, he expressed confidence that measures currently in place to prevent the spread of the Delta variant would also work against the Lambda variant.

“Kung ano yung ginagawa natin sa Delta, gagana iyan para sa Lambda. Yung Lambda kailangan lang pag-aralan, pero mas nakakatakot pa rin talaga ang Delta (What we are doing now for Delta will work for Lambda. The Lambda just needs to be studied, but the Delta is even scarier),” he said.

Meanwhile, the health expert pointed out that the Lambda variant consists of mutations that could possible affect the efficacy of the vaccines.

“Mukhang meron siyang mga mutations na maaaring maka-apekto sa efficacy ng ating vaccines pero hindi pa ito proven (It seems to have mutations that could affect the efficacy of our vaccines but it has not been proven),” Salvana said.