Lacessit

It's not a matter of not liking or not wanting to accept the data, I am just puzzled by it. Something does not compute. It defies logic that RSA should have had so many more deaths, and such a low infection rate of the omicron variant compared to Australia. Especially when South Africa was where the omicron variant originated.

You are showing graphs from John Hopkins University, based in Baltimore, USA. How do they know what the RSA bureaucracy tells them is accurate? South Africa has had 3.58 million cases, 93,949 deaths. Australia has had 2.13 million cases, 3043 deaths. South Africa is less than 30% fully vaccinated, Australia is 80%. Draw your own conclusions.

You are quoting a lot of official figures for NSW and Australia. I don't see any from RSA, apart from your assertions. How do we know these are accurate, and the RSA bureaucracy is on top of the recording of infections?

It seems the training of police car drivers is no better than the training the average Thai gets. I am not surprised.

I was talking today with a 51 yo massage lady, who complimented me on my Thai. Not that it is fluent, but adequate. She spoke quite reasonable English. She was lamenting the fact her English boyfriend ( 67 yo ) had mastered the Thai language to the extent of sawadee krap and kopkhun krap. Which leads me to this question - is the willingness or reluctance to learn Thai correlated with nationality, age, or IQ?

Anyone who wants to be a scofflaw in a foreign country should realize there are consequences if they get caught. Zero sympathy.

Paracelsus said the same about 500 years ago. It's why frontline medical workers who are vaccinated get infected, they are more exposed to transmission.

Are you surprised? Conservative governments worldwide traditionally underfund public health, it is one of their favorite targets. Fortunately for Australia, every time a Liberal ( sic ) government tries to tinker with cost-cutting, it gets a bloody nose from the voters.

Cherry-picking from a 7 day moving average, it is still only 2 deaths per million. You'll probably get more frequency from heart attacks. The more important data is how many have "long COVID" from the delta and omicron waves, and how that is distributed between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. It's not only hospital resources that get tied up, it's also rehabilitation services. You'll get no argument from me Australian political leadership is incompetent. IMO many Australians are itching for the next election, when they can hand out retribution to the spin doctors.

My son had two friends who died from COVID, both in their forties. Muay Thai practitioners, as he is. Both unvaccinated. Depending on the countries, the consequences are being refused privileges open to vaccinated people.

I think you'll find the staggeringly high case numbers, in proportion, are coming from the unvaccinated. To me, it's not about infection. It's about overloaded hospital facilities. Sinovac may be sub-par in terms of preventing infection, but the data is saying hospitalisation is far less likely. If you are in a city which is in rigid lockdown, and you get infected, it's quite possible you survive in your apartment and the case is not even registered.

Go back through my posts, please. I have never said that. I have said if you want to refuse vaccination, there are consequences. It's up to you whether you accept them, or rage impotently against them.

Perhaps my post would make sense if you compare the actions of vaccinated people against deniers. We don't march in the streets, acting as superspreaders. Deniers do. A useful starting point is the rallies Trump ran in the lead-up to the presidential election. Then the rallies held in Melbourne and Sidney. Don't try to tell me those idiots were acting responsibly.

I regard my life in Thailand as quite normal. It would certainly be abnormal if I was living in Australia. Like you, I've had two jabs, had COVID, recovered quickly. I intend to have a booster when it is due, I am a belt and braces person. You've had two jabs. You don't consider they gave you a degree of protection from more serious outcomes? True, China has low case and death rates, and they do control the media. The CCP also has the power to lock down entire cities and compel its citizens to be vaccinated, which does not happen in democracies. That's an alternative explanation of their comparative success, unpalatable as it may be to civil libertarians.

Quite true, but the vaccines do prevent you getting an illness serious enough to kill you or disable you, I really have to thank you for your post about Mexico, it made my day.

LOL, Mexico recorded just under 50,000 new cases either today or yesterday. Thailand was a bit over 8000. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ In addition, Mexico is probably one of the world's rectums as far as kidnappings, murder and other violent crimes go. Yes, I am enjoying my safe space in Thailand, thank you.

The first word in your post, "If". It destroys the rest of your argument. I have not seen vaccinated people marching in the streets, protesting about anti-vaxxers, They just get on with their lives. OTOH, I have not seen any evidence anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers are capable of acting responsibly. Who knows, the next variant in the COVID series may paralyse its hosts like polio. Do you feel lucky?

The unvaccinated spread any strain of COVID much more effectively, because they are sicker for longer.

If extremism consists of following the data, making informed decisions about my personal situation, and ignoring the beliefs of anti-vaxxer fruitloops, guilty as charged. COVID has come and gone for me, due to my choices. I hope it's not too late for you either.

The issue is not about how many infections occur, that's a given with a new variant. It's about how many people become seriously ill and require hospitalisation. The data is saying unvaccinated people are far more likely to end up in hospital, or need an ICU. Think about what would have happened if the whole of France had been unvaccinated, instead of focusing on irrelevancy.

Chlorine is a gas. Chloride is a soluble anion. Most probable cause is calcium deposition. Test by running water over the deposit. If it dissolves, it's salt. If it fizzes when vinegar is applied, it's calcium carbonate.

I suppose comparisons to Nero would not be well received.

I was vaccinated with Sinovac in early August. Followup with AZ early September. Caught what I assume was the Delta variant in early October. 3 days of a sore throat and runny nose, finish. No after-effects. The data was saying while Sinovac was like tossing a coin in terms of preventing infection, it was much more effective with respect to preventing serious illness. I'm a scientist, I follow the data. At that time, due to bureaucratic delays, other vaccines such as Moderna and Pfizer were as scarce as hen's teeth in Thailand. I took what I could get, because I am in the most vulnerable age cohort, and waiting for months for alternatives would have been stupid. I had myself tested for COVID antibodies two weeks after the AZ jab, 64 U/mL. I'm not a cheerleader for Sinovac. Having said that, I believe the Sinovac/AZ combination shielded me from far worse outcomes. Those consequences include long COVID, which is well documented. Here's the most recent link: https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/thai-study-examines-lasting-side-effects-of-long-covid-19?utm_source=Thaiger+Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-01-22 Vaccines bad, no vaccines good. Eric Blair would have been amused.

No, the real problem is one of accepting responsibility for one's actions. You don't want to be vaccinated? Fine by me. Just don't expect free treatment in the public hospitals you clog up. Don't expect to be given equivalent privileges when attending a sporting event, or seeking to be employed in a profession where the vulnerable need protection. The science is in. Unvaccinated people that get COVID will have a much longer infectious period than vaccinated people who get infected. Fact. You are potential plague carriers, don't you get that? Why should you be accorded the same rights as people who have acted responsibly? We live in what are called democracies. Anti-vaxxers are a minority. Under said systems, and most other forms of government, minorities don't get to call the shots.

I'm just trying to help, it's your choice whether you want to follow upon the suggestion. You won't know until you ask. As long as you leave the balance in the bankbook untouched until you update on the day of application, there is no fraud issue. Permit me to doubt an IO would follow up with a bank on that, they are not that industrious. Perhaps you misheard the IO, IME of 10 years of extensions my bank letters have never been questioned.