MANILA (UPDATE) - The Philippines has recorded 3 more deaths related to the COVID-19 variant omicron, raising the toll to five, the Department of Health said Wednesday.

Three of the fatalities were elderly and had comorbidities, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

The vaccination status of the three newly reported deaths were still being verified, while one of the two earlier reported as unvaccinated was partially inoculated upon verification, the DOH said.

• Philippines reports first 2 deaths from omicron variant

The highly transmissible variant was now predominant in Metro Manila and other regions, with the parent lineage and its subvariant detected in the country, Vergeire earlier said.

• Omicron now predominant COVID-19 variant in PH: health dept

The public is urged to get vaccinated and boosted to avoid more transmission that can lead to more mutations of coronavirus.

Vergeire, meantime, told those seeking a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to "be patient" as there is not enough data that calls for it.

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Philippines on Tuesday reported 17,677 more COVID-19 cases as omicron became the predominant coronavirus variant in the country.

This is the first time since the first week of January that the daily tally fell below 20,000. The DOH announced 17,220 cases on Jan. 6, according to the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.