The Omicron Subvariant BA.2.12 Arrived in the Philippines 4 weeks ago. It was Announced Yesterday and is being Used to Drive the Vax to the Max, Booster to the Max to Save Yourself Campaign!
There is no surge now 4 weeks later! Is the variant dangerous? Are the vaccines effective against Omicron? Are the Vaccines Safe? The answer to all of these is NO!
Yesterday the Philippines arrival of the BA.2.12 variant was announced. As described in BusinessWorld it arrived in a fully vaccinated and asymptomatic traveler from Finland who was in Baguio on 2nd of April and developed mild symptoms 9 days later. She did a 7-days quarantine, recovered and returned home. Subsequent testing revealed that she had the BA.2.12 subvariant. Today’s online headlines scream that this traveler had 44 close contacts.
DOH is also urging the public to get boosted ASAP, though it did admit that this variant is not yet seen to cause severe disease (article here).
An urgent Public Health Advisory was issued today to encourage booster uptake, and compliance with health protocols.
Let’s take a step back from all this fear-propaganda being thrown around!
If there was one detected case (this dates back to 4 weeks ago), then surely there are other undetected cases. However, yesterday’s (27th April 2022) daily new covid-19 cases in Philippines were at a long time low of 195, and with only 10,576 active cases, and 1.2% test positivity. So 4-weeks on from the apparent introduction of the dreaded BA.2.12 to the Philippines cases continue to be low, and there is no surge!
Other countries which have relaxed lockdowns, such as the US are not seeing BA surges (Dr. John Campbell just discussed this).
Important questions to ask before rushing to vax or booster include:
Is this variant dangerous? The consensus at this time is that it is more infectious than even the original Omicron Variant, but is less able to cause disease (not so different from a regular cold)?
THE BA.2.12 VARIANT IS NOT DANGEROUS!
Are the vaccines effective against Omicron and this subvariant? The data out of UK, Australia, and New Zealand would indicate that the vaccines offer short-term protection (weeks), if at all, against Omicron and only in terms of reduction against severe illness and death, not for reduction of infection and transmission. It is early to see vaccine outcomes against the BA.2.12 subvariant, but likely it will be worse than the already poor outcome for the original Omicron variant?
MAYBE SHORT-TERM EFFECTIVE AGAINST SEVERE OUTCOMES??
Are the vaccines safe? Are they safe enough to warrant their use for a mild illness?
This is a huge issue? Worldwide, adverse events report system are showing massive increases in reported adverse reactions and deaths. Far more (magnitudes more) than has ever been seen for any other vaccine! Research linking these vaccines to and explaining mechanisms of cardiac issues, clotting issues, immune issues, cancers and other adverse health outcomes is exploding.
There are also very high excess deaths worldwide concurrent with the rollouts which have not been explained. The vaccines are not eliminated as direct cause!
NOT SAFE BASED ON RAPIDLY ACCUMULATING EVIDENCE!
Let us use common sense please!
There is no current outbreak in the Philippines. Despite massive election rallies and sorties for the past two months we don’t see any increases in cases. New cases are low and continue to slowly drop, and active cases are still going down.
Internationally the countries with less vaccination have been having less C-19 cases and less deaths (Africa has very low vaccination rates and is doing exceptionally well); while the most heavily vaccinated and boosted (check South Korea) are faring far worse. If the Philippines boosts its vaccine and boosters uptake, this may directly change (worsen) its covid-19 outcomes.
The Omicron variant has been mild for most with no special treatment required. It does not make sense to add a high-risk vaccine to try to give additional protection to improve already great outcomes.
If you are healthy and able to handle a common cold, you will also have excellent prospects for breezing through contact with the new variant. There is no need to take the products (or any further doses of the products) for which efficacy and safety are looking increasingly shaky, actually highly concerning!
All of those 44 contacts have tested negative! Yet, Concepcion is using the announced arrival of BA.2.12 to call for redefinition of fully vaccinated to include a booster!