Health reform advocate Dr. Anthony Leachon on Thursday warned against complacency amid data showing Omicron causes milder illness.
As Omicron spreads like wildfire, he cautioned that it’s only a matter of time before more variants emerge.
“Yes ‘mild’ symptoms in the vaccinated is a good thing, but as the virus continues to infect more and more (vaccinated or not), it will keep mutating,” said Leachon.
“The more omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant,” also said the former government adviser on National Force Against Covid-19.
“Now, 0micron is lethal, it can cause death maybe a little bit less than Delta, but who’s to say what the next variant might throw out,” he said.
“Even if it’s mild, people who get it will still have to isolate . They won’t be able to work. With higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant, we are likely to experience another wave of community infections soon. This is going to hurt our efforts in the past two years,” he explained.
While the effect may not be mortality or death, he however said the sheer volume can jeopardize and cause economic depression.
“Our primary care doctors will be key, as we allow patients to recover at home and avoid hospitalization. But there’s no clear blueprint on this matter,” he said.
“We need true authentic leadership in the health care system – agile , competent , and with vision of the future,” Leachon said.