A group of scientists met at the Social Security Fund (CSS), this Thursday, in order to analyze and take the relevant measures in the executing units of the institution, given the increase in cases of Covid-19 of the omicron variant.
Dr. Enrique Lau, general director of the CSS, reported that experts on the subject, both from the institution and from the National Secretariat of Science and Technology (Senacyt), analyzed the current conditions of the pandemic in Panama, which could be the different scenarios with projections in number of cases, the aggressiveness of the virus and the coexistence between the Delta and Omicron variants.
He also added that common objectives were set forth, which have to do with the future Center for Research, Innovation, Technological Development and Postgraduate Studies of the CSS, which will be located in the City of Health, which will promote the future of medicine in Panama. .
Dr. Eduardo Ortega Barría, Senacyt’s national secretary, indicated that we are in a situation where the rebound has accelerated, so we believe that there is an important mix of two variants circulating in the country.
He expressed that the Delta variant was the predominant one just a few weeks ago, however, there is an important change in the behavior of the pandemic, since we have more positive cases, the Rt increased significantly, which tells us that something changed, which It happened at the end of December 2021.
On December 20, the first case of Ómicron occurred in the country, so we think that underlying this fourth wave is Ómicron, which is a more transmissible organism that evades the immune response of previous infection and vaccines, especially for infection and not for severe disease.
Ortega stressed that fortunately there seems to be a dissociation between the number of cases that are diagnosed and the number of people who go to the hospital and end up in intensive care, especially if they are vaccinated.
In this regard, he stressed that it is necessary to be vaccinated, “if the vaccination scheme has not started, the first dose should be given; if you only got one dose and it happened many weeks ago, it doesn’t matter, go get the second dose; and if you have two doses and three months have already passed, you should get the booster shot ”.
In addition, “if you have a small child between 5 and 11 years old, this Friday, January 7, the vaccination of high-risk children will begin and it is expected to extend it by one or two weeks in order to protect them, since there is an increase of cases in children and up to now we have not vaccinated it ”.
For his part, Dr. Rudick Kant, head of the CSS Epidemiology department, revealed that the CSS facilities are prepared to face a potential increase in cases.
He reported that an exponential increase in Covid-19 cases has been detected in the last week, however, the hospitalization rate, both in the ward and in Intensive Care, at this time, have not paralleled that increase in cases that we are observing through the primary care network and traceability teams.
In this sense, Dr. Rodrigo De Antonio, an epidemiologist and researcher at Senacyt, stated that Panama has been facing an increase in cases, for two weeks, in which figures of a new pandemic wave are being reached, as in other countries of the world.
What is observed, he said, are symptomatic as well as asymptomatic cases, without seeing the hospital capacity at risk and the number of deaths remains low, thanks to vaccination coverage and compliance with biosafety measures, which is why maintain these measures and those who are not vaccinated should start their vaccination schedule.
“We have faced this pandemic with the results of research, so we have talked with Dr. Lau to strengthen collaboration in research between academic institutions of the Senacyt and the CSS to continue collecting data that can be used for the decision-making process. and face this pandemic ”.
Finally, Dr. Pablo Barrera, immunologist and allergist from the CSS, stressed that the meeting served to exchange and analyze information regarding the situation that is projected in the coming weeks with the sudden increase in cases of covid, in order to take the relevant measures within the reach of the institution.
Similarly, some strategies were released to present to the population, among which is the increase in coverage of booster doses, pediatric vaccination, vaccination of susceptible groups and shortening the time for the booster vaccine .
