Expert says lifting of health emergency has to be studied

The lifting of the state of public emergency due to the Covid-19 by year-end must be studied thoroughly, an infectious diseases expert said.
In a televised public briefing, Dr. Rontgene Solante said placing the country under a state of public health emergency comes with benefits, including free vaccination against Covid-19.
“Now in the event that it will be removed, the effectivity of the emergency use authorization will be gone. It would be disadvantageous for us,” he said.
“What will happen is majority of the population will now be paying for those vaccines.”
Solante urged the public to take advantage of the available provisions while the country is under a state of public health emergency as the community transmission of the virus continues.
He also noted the current monovalent vaccines still protect against the BA4 and BA5 subvariants of Omicron and the development of severe Covid-19 infection.
“As long as you’re boostered, your protection is high, he said.
What’s important is, we maintain our population immunity, and then by the early part of next year, our protection remains high even if Omicron is still here.” – PNA