TallGuyJohninBKK

The amount of reckless and harmful COVID and COVID vaccine misinformation and rubbish that has been foisted on the internet over the past four years -- including by some number of posters here -- massively dwarfs the comparively few over-generalizations made by some public officials early on in the pandemic. The WHO was very clear back in 2021 about just what COVID vaccines could accomplish: 14 July 2021 Vaccine protection and infection "Vaccines can stop most people from getting sick with COVID-19, but not everyone. Even after someone takes all of the recommended doses and waits a few weeks for immunity to build up, there is still a chance that they can get infected. Vaccines do not provide full (100%) protection, so ‘breakthrough infections’ – where people get the virus, despite having been fully vaccinated – will occur." https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/vaccine-efficacy-effectiveness-and-protection

Per WHO as of Aug. 2023: Why get vaccinated against COVID-19? The emergency phase of COVID-19 is over, but the virus continues to spread and evolve. COVID-19 remains a threat, especially to older persons and adults with underlying health conditions. Safe and effective vaccines help ensure that COVID-19 does not result in severe disease and death. Vaccination protects against COVID-19 and reduces the likelihood of new variants from emerging." https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice

"In August 2022, the risk of dying from COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults compared with adults who received a primary series was 9 times higher for adults aged 65–79 years and 4 times higher for adults aged ≥80 years. ... Compared with adults who received a primary series in the same age group, the risk of dying from COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults was 3 times higher for adults aged 18–29 years, 5 times higher for adults aged 30–49 years, and 6 times higher for adults aged 50–64 years. ... In August 2022, adults aged ≥50 years with at least 2 booster doses had 3 times lower risk of dying from COVID-19 than adults of the same age with one booster dose (Figure 10). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/data-review/vaccines.html

Says the poster who has publicly aligned himself here in this thread with a documented conspiracy-pseudoscience COVID misinformation peddling organization.

He was correct in the general sense, in that as has been almost universally acknowledged by numerous experts around the world -- excluding some random anti-vaxers here with no credible sources -- that COVID vaccines helped curb the pandemic and saved many millions of lives and prevented serious illness in many millions more. But he also was/is a politician, who like many politicians, tends to speak in generalities... He overstated the detail. But he certainly had the right concepts! At least, he, unlike his predecessor, wasn't urging people to take all kind of measures against COVID that the medical community has declared useless, harmful, potentially toxic.

Might as well add this additional study to those mentioned above, since they all in different ways verify the vast numbers of lives saved by COVID vaccines -- contrary to the entirely unsourced and unsubstantiated claims above. COVID vaccines saved at least 1 million lives in Europe, experts estimate April 18, 2023 COVID-19 vaccination directly saved at least 1,004,927 lives across Europe from December 2020 to March 2023, according to new research presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) annual meeting this week in Copenhagen, Denmark. The study was based on weekly reported deaths and vaccination doses from 26 countries in Europe collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-vaccines-saved-least-1-million-lives-europe-experts-estimate

Thailand police responding to reports of Bangkok mall shooting At least one person has been injured and police are working to secure the scene https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/thailand-bangkok-mall-shooting-latest-news-b2422976.html

Conflicting reports on whether or not there have been any casualties.... Breaking: Gunfire heard in Siam Paragon mall A shooting incident has been reported at Siam Paragon department store in downtown Bangkok on Tuesday afternoon, with no reports of any casualties. There are no reports of any casualties. BTS Siam station has been closed to the public. According to reports, commandos are being deployed at Siam Paragan. One person is injured after getting shot in the back. Officials said people were being evacuated and security warnings have been issued in the vicinity as the suspect, who is yet to be apprehended, is armed. https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40031578

Hundreds flee from ‘active shooter’ at Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok BANGKOK – Hundreds of shoppers fled a popular shopping mall in Bangkok on Tuesday after gunshots were heard ringing near high-end retail stores. Videos and photos posted on social media show people rushing to the exits of the Siam Paragon Mall as an “active shooter” was reported to be prowling the mall. Initial reports said the gunshots were heard coming from a toilet on the ground floor. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/hundreds-flee-from-active-shooter-at-siam-paragon-mall-in-bangkok

And then there's this just for the U.S. Two Years of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccines Have Prevented Millions of Hospitalizations and Deaths December 13, 2022 "From December 2020 through November 2022, we estimate that the COVID-19 vaccination program in the U.S. prevented more than 18.5 million additional hospitalizations and 3.2 million additional deaths. Without vaccination, there would have been nearly 120 million more COVID-19 infections. The vaccination program also saved the U.S. $1.15 trillion (Credible Interval: $1.10 trillion–$1.19 trillion) (data not shown) in medical costs that would otherwise have been incurred." https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations

An estimated 20 million lives saved from COVID deaths in the first year of vaccinations through 2021 is a pretty good promise made and kept. COVID vaccines saved 20 million lives in first year, study says Health Jun 24, 2022 11:14 AM EDT "Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday." https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/covid-vaccines-saved-20-million-lives-in-first-year-study-says

Yes, that they moved quickly with the benefit of major government funding to respond to the worst public health crises in decades, and by doing so, saved tens of millions of lives. "The COVID-19 vaccine was safely developed The COVID-19 vaccine began rolling out less than a year into the pandemic. Vaccine development typically takes much longer, so it’s easy to wonder how we got this vaccine so soon. But the COVID-19 vaccine is held to the same safety standards as any other vaccine. Rigorous clinical trials have proven that they’re safe and effective." https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health-wellness/coronavirus-information/vaccine-learn/safe-and-effective

Promoting myths again? MYTH: Researchers rushed the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, so its effectiveness and safety cannot be trusted. "There are many reasons why the COVID-19 vaccines could be developed so quickly. Here are just a few: The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were created with a method that has been in development for years, so the companies could start the vaccine development process early in the pandemic. ... The vaccine developers didn’t skip any testing steps, but conducted some of the steps on an overlapping schedule to gather data faster." https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines-myth-versus-fact

Not surprised you belong, considering your posting history: America’s Frontline Doctors CONSPIRACY-PSEUDOSCIENCE Overall, we rate America’s Frontline Doctors a quackery-level pseudoscience website based on promoting false or misleading information regarding Coronavirus that does not align with the scientific consensus. We also rate them Low for factual reporting due to a lack of transparency and using known pseudoscience sources to draw their conclusions. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/americas-frontline-doctors/ The reference website here is one of those that the forum moderation team uses to help evaluation the credibility (or lack thereof) of sources posted in the forum.

The original vaccines had a documented and tested rate of about 90% in preventing infections from the original strain of COVID. That rate was well-documented and well-publicized at the time. November 09, 2020 from Pfizer: "Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis" https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against And then further in April 2021 early in the vaccine's public rollout: "Analysis of 927 confirmed symptomatic cases of COVID-19 demonstrates BNT162b2 is highly effective with 91.3% vaccine efficacy observed against COVID-19, measured seven days through up to six months after the second dose" https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-confirm-high-efficacy-and-no-serious

1. especially for people who are at high health risk such as older folks and those with various pre-existing health conditions, getting the current bivalent vaccine (as opposed to the newer 3rd gen vax not yet available in Thailand) is better than not getting any updated vax at all... once your last prior one was 6 months or more prior. 2. Contrary to your claim, I've never denied vaccines, or any medication for that matter, can have side effects, generally in rare cases. In the case of COVID vaccines, the most common ones are mild and passing. In the case of more serious side effects, the WHO, CDC and other health agencies have called them very rare.

Happened across further info on this (future use of mRNA) in my nightly reading today: August 31, 2023 Physicians reckon with 'profound' impact of COVID-19 ... "The technology is being explored for other vaccines. The NIAID initiated a phase 1 clinical trial of three experimental mRNA HIV vaccines last year and, in May of this year, launched a phase 1 trial testing an experimental universal influenza vaccine that uses the technology. Also, in July, Moderna asked the FDA to begin reviewing its application to approve a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine candidate based on mRNA technology." https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20230831/physicians-reckon-with-profound-impact-of-covid19

When the original vaccines were released aimed at the original COVID strain, they did a pretty good job also at preventing routine infection... But then the original virus mutated into different and more vaccine-resistant strains, and the protection against mere infection lessened at that point, while the protection against serious COVID illness and death remained relatively strong. One of the challenges with COVID as a pandemic is that the virus spreads and mutates far faster than science can research, test, produce and roll out billions of vaccine doses... So the vaccines these days are, at least for now, usually playing a bit of catch up. Science is working right now on trying develop longer lasting, more broadly protective COVID vaccines for the future, but they're not here yet.

Not really tough.... Just potentially a boring and time-consuming (but necessary) waste of time.

I'm fine for credible sources and opinions of whatever stripe. I'm not fine for proven and documented junk and misinformation peddlers who misrepresent, distort or just plain lie about stuff. Or, as is sometimes the case with rubbish sources posted here, anti-vax computer scientists, psychologists, veterinarians and the like who pose as experts about COVID, immunology and vaccines when they're way way out of their fields.

For the re-entry permit, assuming you don't have an appointment, you first stop at the large queue counter inside the main Immigration office, just past the smaller customer service counter closer to the front entrance. You go to the far right end of the queue tickets counter, to ask for and get the reentry permit queue ticket which will have a number on it... Then go further onward to the C2 (I believe) section that is the Reentry Permit section area, and see on the digital display boards what number they're currently calling and how far down you are... It's a two step process... When your number is called the first time, you go to the officer and submit your paperwork. They quickly check it, and if everything is OK, you pay them the fee... Then they tell you to go and wait... And then after that.... you may have another long wait before they call your queue number again to come back to an adjoining cubicle in the same section to pick up your passport with the newly stamped reentry permit inside. In my case in August, I waited from about 10 am until after 1 pm just to be able to submit my paperwork. And then another two hours after that before I was called to come and pick up my stamped passport. PS -- Immigration closes their office and has everyone leave to go outside between noon and 1 pm.

BKK CW does have that...and there are cafe / restaurant and shopping places in the building there to spend one, two...four...five hours... if so inclined.... ???? For me, I try to get in and out of there as quickly as possible, and go there only when absolutely necessary. ????

I guess it comes down to whether to believe your personal opinion as someone who rarely presents a credible source for anything, or that of respected scientists and researchers and the Nobel Prize committee members, who wrote above: "The vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented severe disease in many more, allowing societies to open and return to normal conditions." Multiple studies have estimated that COVID vaccines saved anywhere between 15-20 million lives in the early going of the pandemic. That's certainly Nobel Prize worthy: COVID vaccines saved 20 million lives in first year, study says Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday. ... The researchers used data from 185 countries to estimate that vaccines prevented 4.2 million COVID-19 deaths in India, 1.9 million in the United States, 1 million in Brazil, 631,000 in France and 507,000 in the United Kingdom." https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/covid-vaccines-saved-20-million-lives-in-first-year-study-says

First, because some portion of the population (20-30% depending on the location) has refused to get vaccinated since the beginning because of bogus misinformation like that that's been posted above... Second, because among some who were originally vaccinated several years ago with vaccines aimed at the original COVID strain, they haven't gone on to receive follow-up shots to protect against the newer strains of the COVID vaccine, leaving them vulnerable. With vaccine misinformation again playing a role in that. And then third, just as with the flu vaccine and some others, the COVID vaccine doesn't provide 100% absolute protection, so there end up being a smaller portion of so-called breakthrough illnesses even among vaccinated people. These days, for people who have stayed up to date with their vaccines, the protection against serious COVID illness is pretty strong, less so against mild or asymptomatic infection. But the current vaccines right now do need to have new shots periodically, just like the annual flu shots need to be re-taken. And the rubbish misinformation posted above and elsewhere only discourages people from doing so.

I've seen good comments about that lately, particularly with other members here posting to assure that those re-entry permit desks at the two airports are staffed even in the very early morning or late night hours when flights are sometimes departing... because clearly you don't want to get caught out without a valid reentry permit. As I had posted here previously, when I was out to BKK CW back in August, I didn't have an appointment for the reentry permit section, just a queue ticket obtained that morning. And my wait from start to finish was close to FIVE hours that day (including the lunch break hour), 99% of it spent just sitting and waiting on them.