Curious on what an endemic situation looks like?
According to a pediatric infectious disease expert, how the country currently responds to Covid-19 infections and case spikes all over the world is something that would be expected in an endemic situation.
In a press briefing of the Department of Health (DOH), Dr. Anna Ong-Lim explained that this is because the health response to possible case surges is no longer reliant on community quarantines and border closures but on the protection provided by vaccines and the observance minimum public health standards being implemented against Covid-19.
She made the statement following a question regarding the spike of Covd-19 cases being experienced in other parts of the world.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that the country can no longer close or open the borders whenever there is a surge in other parts of the world. She said that the government must be able rely on the strategies implemented to protect the population.
Opening of borders, according to her, does not equate to having no safeguards to detect any variants or Covid-19 infected passengers.
On the other hand, Ong-Lim stated that the government continues to monitor the health situation in other countries as well as if there are new variants being discovered.
"Siyempre kahit na bakunado ang karamihan dito sa Pilipinas kung mabalitaan natin na ibang Variant of Concern (VOC) yan, I'm sure, maiiba na naman ang ating stratehiya (Even though many here in the country have been vaccinated if ever there will be a new VOC, I'm certain that our strategy will also change)," Ong-Lim said.
"We tailor-fit what we do based on what we assess to be the risks from what's happening outside the country," she added.
Meanwhile, DOH’s Technical Advisory Group member Dr. Edsel Salvana said that the country has arrived at a point that it has achieved population immunity to a certain extent that even if an infected person gets past the border, the virus will no longer spread easily unlike two years ago.
He also explained that even if the immunity that the vaccines provide wanes against transmission and infection, it's still there to prevent a severe disease which can help the local health system's capacity to cope with surges, if ever there will be such.
"So all these things are the path to the endemicity," he said.
Salvana also emphasized the importance of having Covid-19 booster shots especially for the vulnerable population since the immunity of the primary series wanes over time.