TallGuyJohninBKK

I think you need to read my posting history (even one day's worth would do) a bit more closely...

Interesting news on that front from a yet-to-be-peer reviewed study from the University of Hong Kong comparing Sinovac vs Pfizer (the latter still not used in China) for the elderly in Hong Kong that was funded by the Chinese government: "For people 60 and older, two Sinovac doses were 72 percent effective against severe or fatal Covid-19 and 77 percent effective against Covid-related death, the study found. Those levels of protection were lower than those provided by two Pfizer-BioNTech doses. The same study found they were 90 percent effective against severe or fatal Covid and 92 percent effective against death among Hong Kong residents of the same age group. A Sinovac booster shot helped considerably, proving to be 98 percent effective against severe or fatal Covid among people at least 60 years old, the study found." And that rate was comparable to the protection provided by a third booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the study found. "The new study from Hong Kong received funding from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention as part of what one of the study’s co-authors described this week as an effort to understand the comparative effectiveness of vaccines. It was posted online as a preprint, but has not yet been vetted by peer scientists for publication in a scientific journal." https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/health/sinovac-coronavirus-booster-hong-kong.html https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.22.22272769v1 http://www.sinovac.com/news/shownews.php?id=1426&lang=en https://seekingalpha.com/news/3816826-sinovac-booster-shows-98-protection-against-deathsevere-covid-in-people-over-60-in-study However, the real shocker didn't get mentioned in any of the news reports above, but was buried in the details of the study itself: "We found two doses of CoronaVac provided no protection against mild/moderate disease across all age groups, with some protection offered by BNT162b2 in younger age groups (VE: 31.0%, 95% CI: 1.6%, 51.7%)." And regarding 3rd dose boosters among younger adults: "Three doses of BNT162b2 was estimated to have a VE of 71.5% (95% CI: 54.5%, 82.1%) against mild/moderate disease in younger adults while for three doses of CoronaVac the VE was estimated as 42.3% (95% CI: 11.4%, 62.4%) against the same outcome.

From the WHO's March 23 weekly COVID update: "there were 33,000 deaths across the globe, with Russia nudging ahead of the United States in reporting the most weekly [COVID] fatalities. At a briefing today, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said several countries are now experiencing their highest death rates of the pandemic, which he said reflects the speed of Omicron spread and the heightened risk in unvaccinated people, especially seniors. "We all want to move on from the pandemic. But no matter how much we wish it away, this pandemic is not over," Tedros said. "Until we reach high vaccination coverage in all countries, we will continue to face the risk of infections surging, and new variants emerging that evade vaccines." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/03/global-covid-19-cases-climb-second-week-row

Anti-vaxers getting sick with COVID? There's a shocker! Dunno about your city, because you haven't mentioned it... But more broadly in the U.S. -- still about one-third of the total population has not been fully (two-shots) vaccinated. And that's worse than Thailand, where the not fully vaccinated share is about 28%. So that leaves a lot of room for unvaccinated people to continue getting sick! Source link

The U.S. CDC has updated their findings for February during the Omicron pandemic that compare COVID hospitalization rates for the unvaccinated vs fully vaccinated vs boosted, as follows: (in short, it pays to get boosted!) Boosted vs unvaccinated: Fully vaccinated vs unvaccinated: Source link "COVID-NET is a population-based surveillance system that collects data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among children and adults through a network of over 250 acute-care hospitals in 14 states. Additional data on vaccination status for individual cases are collected and available from COVID-NET catchment areas in 13 of the 14 states. ... These data were posted on March 24, 2022 and reflect hospitalizations through February 26, 2022. COVID-NET hospitalizations data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available." The following is a narrower snapshot of the same data just for the most recently available week: Age-Adjusted Rates of COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations by Vaccination Status in Adults Ages ≥18 Years - per 100,000 population:

COVID-19 vaccines not tied to adverse pregnancy outcomes Two studies published yesterday in JAMA, one from Sweden and Norway and one from Ontario, find no link between COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and adverse outcomes. ... "We’re still seeing that vaccination rates are lower than in the rest of the population, so it’s likely that there’s some concern about how the vaccines affect the pregnant individual and the fetus," co-first author Anne Ortqvist Rosin, MD, PhD, said in a Karolinska Institute press release. "The results are reassuring and can hopefully make pregnant individuals more willing to get vaccinated." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/03/covid-19-vaccines-not-tied-adverse-pregnancy-outcomes

March 25 update: Asian COVID hot spots show signs of improvement --Hong Kong, battling a COVID wave that has led to a surge in deaths in unvaccinated older people, today reported 10,405 new cases and 192 more deaths, according to the Centre for Health Protection. The number of daily cases has been declining since about the second week of March. --In Vietnam, cases are showing signs of decline, with the 7-day average for daily cases down 27% compared to the week before, according to VN Express. --Elsewhere, South Korea's daily cases today dropped below 400,000 for the second day in a row. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/03/asian-covid-hot-spots-show-signs-improvement

Tell that to the estimated 100 million former COVID cases afflicted by this: (It's NOT just about whether hospitals have the capability to handle all the current COVID cases. The problems don't end when the people are discharged from the hospital...) Long COVID, the next frontier for vaccine and drug developers "Major drug companies, including leading COVID-19 vaccine developers, have joined efforts to discover a potential treatment for long COVID, a condition affecting over 100 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Long COVID is marked by hundreds of different symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain, and brain fog lasting more than three months. It affects people who had both mild and severe COVID-19, including children. ... Meanwhile, Boston, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, PureTech Health (PRTC) is advancing a mid-stage trial for an investigational pulmonary fibrosis therapy to target long-term lung scarring associated with COVID. (more) https://seekingalpha.com/news/3817601-long-covid-the-newest-target-of-vaccine-and-drug-developers

COVID cases hospitalized and requiring intubation to breathe rose by 10 to 640, setting a new record high for the year Total official and unofficial COVID cases, the latter via positive ATK tests, reached 48,131 on Saturday, up from a comparable figure of 42,462 one week ago https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

[translation] BMA launches 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5-11 years COVID-19 Vaccination Center, Bangkok Wesn Sports Building 1 Bangkok Youth Center (Thailand-Japan) Launching service for vaccination against COVID-19, 1st dose, Pfizer vaccine (orange cap) for children aged 5-11 years. ✅ Children who study outside the school system or students who have not been vaccinated at any injection site before ✅ No underlying disease ✅ Parents bring the child on the day of vaccination. Book through the QueQ app and Walk in. Starting from March 26 - April 10, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/529263188692010

Saturday, March 26, 2022 Update 26,234 newly reported official COVID cases classified as: --26,198 domestic patients --36 travelers from abroad An increase from 26,050 official new cases reported yesterday, but below the year's high thus far of 27,071 from March 18. An increase from the 25,804 new cases reported one week ago A total of 1,279,829 official COVID cases (since Jan. 1, 2022) --------------------- 250,265 COVID patients currently being treated, a new record high for 2022, and up from the 244,111 reported yesterday --------------------- 67 new COVID deaths, down 2 from 69 yesterday, and the second consecutive day of declining deaths -------------------- 1,615 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition with pneumonia, down 4 from the yearly high 1,619 reported yesterday COVID cases hospitalized and requiring intubation to breathe rose by 10 to 640, setting a new record high for the year Nationwide average of 21 people per province (77 provinces) hospitalized in serious condition with COVID National hospital bed occupancy rate of 27.5% ------------------------ 20,013 COVID cases newly recovered 1,059,790 total recovered COVID cases (since Jan. 1, 2022) https://www.facebook.com/thaimoph/posts/285635677074900

People dying and in critical condition in the hospital right now are not a "distraction".

Jackson’s hearings are over. Meet the 9 potential Senate swing votes. "Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is on a relatively smooth path to becoming the first Black woman on the Supreme Court after three days of Senate confirmation hearings that have run the gamut in tone, from tense to rowdy to emotionally supportive. At the moment, Democrats expect Jackson to receive full support from their 50-member caucus — and that’s enough to get her confirmed. The biggest question, now, appears to be whether her final confirmation vote will be bipartisan. ... Indeed, Jackson got three Republican votes last year when she was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. One of those Republicans is heavily hinting he will oppose Jackson’s nomination, while the other two have yet to announce a decision. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/24/kentanji-brown-jackson-confirmation-swing-votes-senate-00018883 Thus virtually the entire Republican contingent in the U.S. Senate is likely to oppose the nomination of the first black woman ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court... That's who they are. By comparison, Clarence Thomas (of all nominees, carrying the weight of an alleged sexual harassment scandal) was confirmed by a Senate vote of 52-48, but that included 11 supporting Democratic senators along with 41 Republicans. All of the above is a good indication of why the mid-term House and Senate elections will have such an important influence on the years ahead, given the current razor-thin margin in the Senate. -------------------------------- "The 2022 United States Senate elections will be held on November 8, 2022, with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections, the winners of which will serve six-year terms in the United States Congress from January 3, 2023, to January 3, 2029." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_Senate_elections Plus one additional Senate special election seat. PS Politico - I'd hardly call MAYBE one or two Republican Senate votes out of the 50 seats they hold as "bipartisan" support.

Wait for this?

Research has clearly shown that so-called "fully vaccinated" -- meaning two doses -- is not very effective against Omicron, and the third booster dose fares much better in terms of protection. "The mutations in the omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, first detected in November 2021, make it the most contagious version of the virus known to date and allowed it to evade immunity — both from vaccines and from previous infections — better than other variants." https://www.vox.com/22977354/covid-19-outbreak-omicron-ba2-hong-kong-south-korea-china-asia-vaccine Regarding South Korea, they had begun relaxing COVID prevention measures prior to their spike in cases. Also, about 37% of SK's population has not received the booster shot as yet, despite the higher share for two doses: "In recent weeks, South Korea has relaxed social distancing rules by pushing back a curfew on restaurants to 11 p.m. and easing the cap on private gatherings to six. Critics said the government underestimated the highly contagious nature of the omicron variant and eased the social distancing rules too soon, contributing to a surge in cases. Local media outlets reported that the curfew and the gathering cap be would be further relaxed, but Son said it is too early to tell." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/17/south-korea-coronavirus-record/ "A government analysis of some 141,000 Omicron cases reported in the country over the past year showed that there were no deaths among people under 60 who had received a booster shot, Son Young-rae, a health ministry official, said on Wednesday," https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/south-korea-reports-record-covid-deaths-as-daily-cases-surge-past-600000 Especially with the latest version of the Omicron variant (BA2), everything I've seen suggests that fully boosted PLUS public health intervention measures together provide the best defense. Relying on vaccinations alone, especially with sizable portions of populations not fully boosted, isn't seeming to cut it.

It (Thailand's current levels of daily COVID deaths) is more than Thailand's average number of daily road fatality deaths..... And people seem to get pretty worked up on that topic when it arises. Thailand is nowhere near the worst when it comes to COVID deaths. But it's also nowhere near the best either, on a per capita basis (deaths in the last 7 days per 1 million population) as shown in the two far right columns below, which only show the 20 countries in the world with the most COVID cases in the past week. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528680938750235/?type=3

My comment you're responding to was about the deep cut on her leg, and the apparent fact that the timing of that cut -- pre or post going into the water -- has yet to be established.

You've left out the full message of the article you cite above: ""Because vaccination protects against severe disease and death, it is safer for individuals to be vaccinated before rather than after natural infection," they wrote. "One big message is that our work shows vaccines still can and should play an important role in protection," Messer says. "Vaccination raises all boats -- if you have been previously infected or if you experience a breakthrough infection. In both cases, your immunity will be closer to complete."

And further regarding false claims by the senator from Tennessee: Tenn. Sen. Marsha Blackburn wrong about Ketanji Brown Jackson and critical race theory "In a 2015 speech about sentencing policy, Jackson did not say critical race theory should be considered by judges in making decisions on the bench. Jackson said that sentencing policy is interesting on an intellectual level because it “melds together myriad types of law,” as well as critical race theory, negotiations and contracts. ... We rate Blackburn’s statement False." https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/mar/22/marsha-blackburn/tenn-sen-marsha-blackburn-wrong-about-ketanji-brow/

The way Biden has handled this USSC nomination is not significantly different than other presidents who have gone before him, Trump and Reagan included, among others: Joe Biden isn’t first to prioritize race, gender in picking SCOTUS nominee, as Sean Hannity claimed "President Donald Trump vowed to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court before appointing Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. Ronald Reagan made a similar promise as a candidate to nominate the first woman, then followed through as president. Other presidents have clearly indicated preferences for candidates of specific ethnicities or religions." ... Nikolas Bowie, assistant professor of law at Harvard Law School, said Hannity’s claim "ignores the reality that from 1789 through 1967, every president made race and gender a defining factor in their selection process by refusing to nominate anyone other than a white man." (more) https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jan/28/sean-hannity/joe-biden-isnt-first-prioritize-race-gender-pickin/ And there are other similar past USSC nomination instances cited in the full report, including one by Dwight Eisenhower. To those complaining this is some kind of unprecedented thing, read the factual history of USSC nominations, and get over it!

It's certainly gotten better lately than it was before in the U.S... but... I'd hardly call 1,000+ new COVID deaths per day and 2,000+ new COVID hospitalizations per day as "back to normal 100%" The U.S. is steadily heading toward a world pandemic record of 1 million cumulative COVID deaths from the pandemic. 965,575 Total Deaths Reported 1,052 Current 7-Day Average* New Hospital Admissions The current 7-day daily average for March 9–15, 2022, was 2,298. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

Problem is... 67% of Thailand's overall population has yet to receive a third dose booster shot that is needed to best protect against Omicron. And because this being Thailand, the not fully vaccinated kids go to school, catch the virus and bring it home. They don't get too sick, but they give the virus to the not fully vaccinated mom and dad... and they may get a little to moderately sick, but then they give it to the not fully vaccinated grandparents, who end up in the hospital and potentially dead. And as a specific most at risk subgroup, similar to the general population, 66% of Thailand's senior citizens (age 60 and up) have yet to receive their booster dose. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528681432083519/?type=3

As already posted... those trends generally are UP! https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528681012083561/?type=3 Ahh, should have also added this capping comment of my report earlier today: "In general, COVID hospitalization data in Thailand is likely to be a more accurate indicator of current trends in the pandemic than case counts, since it's not so much subject to the vagaries of the government's COVID testing policies."

Since I wrote the part you quoted, you might well have added a few other parts of the same: "while serious COVID hospitalizations rose substantially to 1,619 and set a another new record high for the year." "unofficial COVID cases via positive ATK tests and combined official and unofficial case totals were higher than a week ago." "Total active COVID cases under care (including home quarantine and community care centers) increased to 244,111, up 3,862 new cases from the prior day and enough to set a another new record high for the year." I think I've tried to do a better job than most at reflecting the limitations of relying solely on the government's daily official new COVID case counts.

67% of Thailand's population has not yet received the third shot booster dose that public health authorities say provides the best protection against the current Omicron variant: https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528681385416857/?type=3