Vergeire clarifies ‘endemic’ amid calls for a shift from pandemic

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday explained an endemic condition amid calls for the country to shift from a pandemic to an endemic situation.

At the Laging Handa public briefing, Vergeire pointed out that laypeople have the wrong idea about the term endemic.

“This is a state wherein cases are stable, already constant and predictable. It doesn’t mean na sinabi nating ganun, it's going to be a milder form of the disease,” she said.

Vergeire added that there should be a balance between the level of transmission and immunity in an endemic.

Using measles as an example, she said that at some point there were no cases because of the high immunization. The disease may come back in a cycle when the level of immunization decreases.

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson said the government should study the possibility of shifting from pandemic to endemic state.

He cited how some countries in Europe are already treating the COVID-19 health crisis as endemic.

“Ang position ko, it’s about time kasi talagang matindi 'yung inabot ng economy natin for the past two years. Sa Europe nga ang trato nila dito ay endemic. Hindi na ito pandemic… Dapat pag-aralan pero dapat bilisan din ang pag-aaral,” he said.

(My position is it's about time to act swiftly because our economy has suffered a lot over the past two years. In Europe, some countries are already treating the health crisis as endemic and not a pandemic. We should study this and we should do it immediately.)

— DVM, GMA News