JNASHDDS

You are obviously very well-informed on this topic. Do you have an influential contact in BKK that might be willing to champion this cause?

Members of this Forum can certainly quibble and offer their own opinions about vaccine efficacy, etc.; but it's clear that Thailand is not pursuing an up-to-date covid vaccination policy and is stuck with the 2020 - 21 model, relying on their stock of monovalent vaccines instead of state-of-the-art bivalents- to the detriment of everyone who lives here. Fyi from the U.S. FDA last week: "The agency, in briefing documents released in advance of a meeting this week with its vaccine advisers, said the goal is to determine in the spring which strain will pose the greatest threat the following winter. A vaccine targeting that strain would then be administered in the fall." This is the kind of sensible Public Health approach that is needed to protect the population from mutating strains of covid-19. The question is, what can we do about it? Anyone have any ideas?

Members of this Forum can certainly quibble and offer their own opinions about vaccine efficacy, etc.; but it's clear that Thailand is not pursuing an up-to-date covid vaccination policy and is stuck with the 2020 - 21 model, relying on their stock of monovalent vaccines instead of state-of-the-art bivalents- to the detriment of everyone who lives here. Fyi from the U.S. FDA last week: "The agency, in briefing documents released in advance of a meeting this week with its vaccine advisers, said the goal is to determine in the spring which strain will pose the greatest threat the following winter. A vaccine targeting that strain would then be administered in the fall." This is the kind of sensible Public Health approach that is needed to protect the population from mutating strains of covid-19. The question is, what can we do about it? Anyone have any ideas?

From the most recent CDC Report: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7205e1.htm Using spike (S)-gene target presence as a proxy for BA.2 sublineages, including XBB and XBB.1.5, during December 2022–January 2023, the results showed that a bivalent mRNA booster dose provided additional protection against symptomatic XBB/XBB.1.5 infection for at least the first 3 months after vaccination in persons who had previously received 2–4 monovalent vaccine doses. What are the implications for public health practice? As new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge, continued vaccine effectiveness monitoring is important. All persons should stay up to date with recommend COVID-19 vaccines, including receiving a bivalent booster dose when eligible.

Mis-information or wrong information can be a "killer". My brother is also an infectious disease MD and told me that the 1st generation vaccines are no longer in use in the U.S. because they lack efficacy vs. the current Omicron subvarinats. The following article has a lot of useful information about this from a highly credible source: https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/omicron-booster-covid-19#:~:text=Those who received the bivalent,doses of the monovalent vaccine

What to do about this? Does anyone have a contact at the U.S. Embassy to inquire about the possibility of making a bivalent vaccine donation given that there are an estimated 30,000+ Americans living in Thailand. Like the 2021 donation of 1M doses, all nationalities would benefit.

The first generation vaccines made available in Thailand in 2021 are outdated and not effective against the current strains of the covid virus. For example, given the spread of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, a bivalent booster shot from Pfizer or Moderna is now the accepted standard of care in the U.S., and the first generation vaccines are not even used anymore. The following article from Yale Medicine is very informative about this: https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/omicron-booster-covid-19#:~:text=Those who received the bivalent,doses of the monovalent vaccine I have inquired about this at Bangkok Hospital in Chiangmai and the Chiangmai Provincial Health Office and was told that the bivalent vaccines are not available and there are no known plans to procure the vaccine. The U.S. Consulate had no information about this or whether the U.S. is considering another major donation of vaccines as it did in 2021. It appears that the Thai Government is not actively pursuing the acquisition of these new generation vaccines for administration to the general public and it's reasonable to assume that the farang community cannot expect to benefit from a broad public health bivalent vaccination program anytime soon. I think this is a major concern, especially given the anticipated influx of tourists from China who are likely to be bringing Omicron with them. Does anyone know if there are any private hospitals in Thailand that have procured the new bivalent vaccine?