A non-profit advocacy group has reiterated its call to immediately bring into the country bivalent Covid-19 vaccines to ward off the possible entry of the new Omicron subvariant.

“We must bring in the bivalent vaccines, especially now that the XBB variant may already be in our midst,” Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said.

He warned that without up-to-date protection against the new variant, the country may find itself in a “perfect storm” wherein local healthcare is overwhelmed. This is a most unwelcome scenario amid the world economy's struggle with rising prices, rising interest rates, and a strong dollar.

“This fourth quarter is so important because it is when business momentum increases and many jobs are created, especially in food and retail. It’s also when businesses can have enough cash flow and cross over to 2023,” he said.

Concepcion, who is also a member of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) formed by President Marcos, further said that with bivalent vaccines, there may be no need to cut back on mobility because vaccines can prevent serious infections and hospitalization.

“The number of cases may go up, but as long as the hospitals are not at full capacity, the economy can remain open,” he said.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante raised the possibility that there are undetected Covid-19 Omicron subvariant XBB in the country. The XBB is said to be immune-evasive than the BA.5, the world's dominant Omicron subvariant.

However, bivalent vaccines, which contain Omicron components, are seen to provide better protection against subvariants that cause severe illness.

OCTA Research Fellow and molecular biologist Fr. Nic Austriaco, on the other hand, said the government needs to facilitate and accelerate the importation of the bivalent Covid-19 vaccines and all future variant vaccines to anticipate an XBB surge and all future variant surges.

“With these vaccines and our antiviral drugs, we can shift the responsibility for community health from the government to our individual citizens. This will quicken the shift from pandemic to endemic disease,” Austriaco said.

Concepcion has written to the Department of Health (DOH) to share some suggestions about the plans of bringing in bivalent Covid-19 vaccines to the country.

He proposed to provide the DOH with the list of businesses and their employees who are willing to receive the bivalent vaccines to ensure that the vaccines that will be procured by the government will be used, adding that the private sector will also assist in the inoculations.