COVID-19 endemic? OCTA briefs the public on how it will be

As the viral transmission of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the country wanes, an OCTA Research fellow briefed the public on how the “new normal” on a COVID-19 endemic would be.

Molecular biologist and OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, during the Go Negosyo’s “Exploring a Safe Exit” virtual discussion on Thursday, Feb. 24, explained how the endemic COVID-19 will be.

“In terms of endemic COVID-19, I point out that every Filipino will eventually get Omicron COVID-19 when their natural or vaccine-acquired immunity wanes. You will get COVID-19 either tomorrow, next month, next year, five years from now, 10 years from now. Omicron is going to stay and COVID-19 is going to stay, so we are basically going to get COVID-19 at some point,” said Austriaco.

However, Austriaco pointed out that unlike the Delta variant, COVID-19 will be mild for most but it will still cause hospitalization and death for vulnerable patients.

“Which is why we are going to have to focus our vaccination efforts in the future on vulnerable people only but not for most citizens. It is not like we will have to vaccinate the every six months or every year. No one is thinking about that anywhere in the world at this point,” Ausriaco added.

Considering that the virus will remain and be a part of our lives, Austriaco said that anti-viral drugs and other therapies must be provided to mitigate the hospitalizations and deaths in the country.

“Over time, our bodies will adjust and it will become a milder case for us. We’re not talking here about potential variants of concern, we still do not know what the future will entail but I am talking about the current variant. We will simply be just getting COVID-19 over the next 10 years and it will become part of our lives,” he added.