The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday renewed its call to the public to get vaccinated and boosted to further strengthen the wall of immunity and to remain protected against Covid-19 after two more cases of EG.5 subvariant of Omicron were logged based on the latest DOH bio-surveillance report reflecting genome sequencing results from from July 26 to August 1.
The DOH said that EG.5 variant is an XBB.1.9.2 sublineage that was recently added to the list of variants under monitoring by the WHO last July 19.
It was initially flagged due to its increasing global prevalence and has been detected in 49 countries or jurisdictions across six continents, according to sequence submissions in GISAID.
However, currently available evidence for EG.5 does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant.
The DOH also said that limited information is available for the variant and researchers are currently characterizing the variant in terms of transmissibility, immune evasion, and ability to cause more severe disease.
“The Department of Health strongly recommends the public to continue adhering to our layers of protection such as wearing face masks, isolating when sick, and ensuring good airflow. These layers of protection are also effective not only against Covid-19 but also from other infectious diseases. At this time, we entrust the public to raise their risk-tolerance against Covid-19 and continue to practice assessing our risks,” the DOH said.
