Bkk Brian

Actually I was talking about Professor Charles Shey Wiysonge, director of Cochrane South Africa at the South African Medical Research Council, said there was one clear problem holding back vaccine rates: vaccine hesitancy.

Existing Covid-19 inoculations will struggle against the #Omicron variant, the head of vaccine manufacturer Moderna warned Tuesday, as countries ramp up vaccination programmes and impose further restrictions in an effort to curb growing concern. https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1465663149776859138 https://sg.news.yahoo.com/moderna-boss-warns-against-omicron-115712117.html

92.65 million #COVID19 #vaccine doses have been administered in #Thailand to date, a bit short for the initial target of 100 million by today (end of Nov). The authorities are now racing to vaccinate more people to meet the target on Dec 5, the new deadline. https://twitter.com/ThaiPBSWorld/status/1465667550428073986

I'd say local reports like this are far more credible than the New York times

Vaccine hesitancy or outright opposition has been a barrier to ending the coronavirus pandemic all over the world, though may be a particular problem in South Africa. A survey found last month that about 54% of nationals say they are unlikely to get a Covid-19 vaccine and almost half say they believe prayer provides more protection than the shots. One issue of concern in South Africa is a particular reluctance to be vaccinated among men, Crisp said. Almost 60% of those to have received a dose to date have been women. https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/512982/south-a

Already up to official 14 cases. From Sky News. 200 other probable cases

Here is the Moderna Medical Director in a video interview with the BBC yesterday, he said "nine of the spike protein mutations are known to cause immune escape with the vaccines and another 11 are predicted to be. Bring those together you have a very concerning virus" Starts at 19.05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogKR_idRx-k

I agree, let the experts do their work, they are busy seeing as there's a 400% increase in hospitalizations over the month and the head of an ICU unit has said young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care. Let alone the Dr Salim Abdool Karim said at an online health ministry press briefing. "I am expecting we will top over 10,000 cases by the end of the week per day (and) see pressure on hospitals within the next two, three weeks."

Still a long way to go on some of the outer Provinces for fully vaccinated, this is the bottom 10: Narathiwat 40.1% Pattani 39.9% Roi Et 39.8% Mae Hong Son 39.2% Yasothon 39.0% Sakon Nakhon 37.7% Kalasin 37.6% Nakhon Phanom 35.9% Bueng Kan 34.8% Nong Bua Lamphu 34.4% https://covidtracker-th.netlify.app/

It would be interesting to know what percentage of cases Thailand does actually sequence. South Africa was very fortunate in finding Omicron due to its very low sequencing percentage. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/28/coronavirus-genetic-sequence-south-africa-variant-omicron/

Yes although its now 22 countries with probable cases from the live tracker https://newsnodes.com/nu_tracker

The Thai government is encouraging Thais in at-risk categories to seek out a third booster shot as a new variant of concern has decision-makers on edge. Thai government pushes booster shots as Omicron worries fuel response The Thai government is encouraging Thais in at-risk categories to seek out a third booster shot as a new variant of concern has decision-makers on edge. Just over 57 per cent of the population have now received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine with that number increasing everyday. The World Health Organization recommended this p

No, better anagram is MORONIC a gift for the anti vaxxers and covid deniers

Yes Botswana is trending down from its Delta wave, maybe not been hit by the new variant yet? Speaking to FRANCE 24 on Friday night, Kereng Masupu, coordinator of Botswana’s presidential Covid-19 task force, said the country had detected four confirmed Omicron variant cases and 11 other people were under investigation. Although public health officials were “very, very worried” about the new variant, Masupu stressed that Botswana is “ready to deal with it”. https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20211127-video-top-botswana-health-official-very-concerned-about-omicron-va

Thailand's booster spacing released by CCSA yesterday: 3. Vaccination needle (Needle 3) Sinovac + Sinovac + Astrazeneca, the distance after 2 injections of 4 months or more. Sinovac + Sinovac + Pfizer, distance after 2 injections of 4 months or more Sinovac + Sinovac + Moderna, distance after 2 injections from 4 weeks or more. Sino Farm + Sino Farm + AstraZeneca Distance after 2 injections from 4 months or more Sino Farm + Sino Farm + Pfizer The distance after 2 injections is 4 months or more. Sino Farm + Sino Farm + Moderna The distance after 2 inject

Health Ministry Prepares Serious Defense against Omicron BANGKOK, Nov 30 (TNA) – Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha said the Public Health Ministry seriously prepared itself to cope with the newly found Omicron variant of COVID-19 and visitors would continue to be tested for the disease with the RT-PCR technique. Mr. Sathit said that the emergency operation center of the Public Health Ministry this morning discussed responses to the Omicron variant. Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul attended the meeting online from abroad a

This doc said the symptoms were very different, yet this is what WHO says about that. "There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron

Indeed, proactive is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. This is what all good scientists do especially when faced with an unknown foe as Omicron currently is. Its reflective of how we all should prepare.

Covid-19 hospitalizations rising in South Africa’s omicron hot spot Admissions have increased nearly fourfold since the beginning of November. Hospitalizations across the country have increased by 63 percent since the beginning of the month, according to data from the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases. In Gauteng, a province that includes the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, hospitalizations are up by nearly 400 percent since the beginning of the month https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/covid-19-hospitalizations-rising-south-africas-omi

That's one way to not find Omicron in Thailand, a pitiful lack of sequencing.

Its not just cases now either, hospital admissions have doubled in the last week and the head of an ICU unit has said young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care.

Phuket 93 new cases no covid deaths https://www.facebook.com/NewshawkPhuket/posts/3047021615547674

PCR test positive cases, total of 4,306 official new infections. 37 official covid deaths recorded. Rapid tests positive cases, 1,744 bringing the total of PCR and ATK results to 6,050 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/ Rolling 7 day average chart (up to 28 Nov) and bar chart of both PCR and ATK totals https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

It flags it as a probable case..................similar to how they use the rapid ATK test here to look for covid in general. Its a quick, cheap and easy way to identify cases, isolate them and then do a full sequence. Makes surveillance far easier to track the spread and identify any new cases. Its about the only piece of solid good news we have about Omicron https://newsnodes.com/nu_tracker

I don't think your quite getting this, a PCR test can be used to identify the actual Omicron variant. That will then be classified as a probable case. To confirm then a full genome sequence can be carried out. This makes identification of this variant far simpler and far quicker to help stop its spread: "Several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and this test can therefore be used as marker for this variant, pending sequencing confirmation. Using this appr