An infectious disease specialist said Thursday that unvaccinated people had a higher chance of developing new variants of COVID-19.
Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Dr. Edsel Salvana pointed out that unvaccinated people were shedding more viral loads due to rapid replication of the virus, compared to those vaccinated.
“Because of the fast replication of the virus in an unvaccinated person, the chance of yielding new mutations and variants is higher,” Salvana said.
The Philippine government has imposed restrictions against unvaccinated people due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Under Alert Level 3, local government units and the police are enforcing restrictions on the mobility of unvaccinated people, who are not allowed to go outside except for availing essential goods and services.
Earlier this week, President Rodrigo Duterte appealed to Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“What do you want? Let’s just fill up our cemeteries?… Please listen to us and get vaccinated,” the President said.
He enjoined Filipinos to get inoculated against COVID-19 otherwise they are at higher risk for critical symptoms or death.
“If you are vaccinated, you have a fighting chance. If not, then we’re going to bury people,” he said.
Although the Omicron variant has appeared less severe compared to the Delta variant, Duterte said those unvaccinated are most likely to suffer the consequences of not getting their jabs.
“If you are unvaccinated, you’re going to die. Even if it’s just Omicron, it’s death,” he added.
