New Omicron sublineage FE.1 no cause for alarm – expert

MANILA, Philippines — An infectious disease expert said the detection of the new Omicron sublineage FE.1 should not be a cause for alarm but still encouraged eligible individuals to get jabbed with the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines.

“We should not panic because, for almost two years now, the health care utilization rate has been good,” Dr. Rontgene Solante said, adding that “these new variants haven’t been causing the most severe infections.”

Solante said this doesn’t mean that Filipinos should be complacent against these new subvariants and sublineages.

“Just like any subvariant that have been reported in the Philippines, we should closely monitor this,” Solante said at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.

The latest COVID-19 Biosurveillance Report of the Department of Health (DOH) noted the detection of the country’s first case of the FE.1 sublineage.

Out of the 2,340 samples most recently sequenced by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center, a total of 2,216 have been classified as under the Omicron variant.

Solante said it is necessary for the health care workers (HCWs) and senior citizens to get inoculated with bivalent jabs, which carry components of the Omicron variant.

“Their COVID-19 vaccines must be updated so that they will have that added layer of protection. It is important that once bivalent vaccines are available, these vulnerable population should get them so they will have protection against these new variants,” he said.

The DOH is set to launch the bivalent COVID-19 vaccination today at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City.

Based on the guidelines released by the DOH, the bivalent vaccines shall be used as third booster shots of HCWs and senior citizens after at least four to six months from their second booster shot.