The Ministry of Public health confirmed this Wednesday that in the country the sub-variants of omicron BA.4 and BA.5.
“As of week 23, the circulation of BA.4 Y BA.5”, affirmed the director of Epidemiology, Ronald Skewes.
Of 26 samples sequenced at the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory, taken between June 6 and 2614 turned out to be omicron BA.2; seven BA.4 and four BA.5. The other sample studied was indeterminate.
the subvariant BA.4 was detected in Espaillat, Mirabal Sisters, La Vega, San Pedro de Macorís, Santiago and Santo Domingo. The BA.5 in the National District, Espaillat and San Cristóbal.
Skewes clarified that “those variants arrived and have not found fertile ground, have found a protected population, vaccinated”, hence the importance of completing the scheme with the third and fourth dose.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Eladio Perezstated that these samples are “in retrospect, therefore, it can be characterized that the increase in cases that we have had since week 24 corresponded to these subvariants.”
The authorities clarified that these new subvariants they do not represent a higher risk of infection and/or hospitalization which is currently being handled.
The adviser to the Ministry, Eddy Perez Thenhighlighted that the dynamics of the virus is no longer the same as when the pandemic developed, but that despite the fact that cases go up and down, hospital occupancy remains low.
“If there is one thing we have to understand, it is that we are not behaving the same way,” Pérez Then assured, referring to the way of measuring the virus, now focused not so much on daily positivity, but on the hospital stress it causes and mortality.
“There is no doubt that the virus at this time is different from the virus when we had the ancestral variant… You may have a very high number of cases right now and that indicator is not necessarily telling you that you are going to have hospital stress” , he added.
The doctor stressed that “lVaccines will not prevent infection, but they will prevent hospitalization and death“.
He concluded his exposition with the perspective that “It does not look like we are going to have an increase in cases in the coming weeks, but it will remain stable”.
Through bulletin 839, the health authorities reported 1,080 new infections, for a total of 4,400 active cases. Daily positivity is recorded at 21.57%.
