TallGuyJohninBKK

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

As you know, there are lots of different potential reasons for things: 1. Even the mRNA vaccines, if used for all 3 doses which probably doesn't apply to most Thais, are only partially effective at blocking infection by Omicron, and probably less so with the more transmissible newer BA2 strain. (Though supposed to still be very strong at preventing serious illness/hospitalization and deaths). 2. The timing of when people received their vaccines and boosters comes into the picture as well, with the latest research I've seen suggesting the best protection against basic infection seems to last only several months post injection, and then you have vaccine waning begin to occur. 3. The variability of just what exact brand of vaccines the people have received, which can impact just how much protection is provided. That said, all of the above argues for maintaining reasonable levels of public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus beyond the protections provided by vaccination. And at this point, a lot of people seem very resistant to those kinds of things. Talking about supposed gains -- the number of Thais hospitalized with COVID in serious condition or requiring intubation to breathe has been rising steadily for weeks now, and once again reached new record high levels for 2022, as reported by the government earlier today. Undoubtedly, without the modest levels of vaccination that have occurred here (barely 30%+ fully boosted), the death and hospitalization numbers would be even worse. IMHO, people need to do everything they reasonably can to protect themselves from becoming infected... and too many simply aren't. Whether it's those who haven't been fully boosted (3 shots) with COVID vaccination, or consistently following personal protection measures.

Not a comment about the people at your company, but just the locals in general: It doesn't really do any good if people wear a mask all day at work because that's what their employer requires, but then go out after work socializing at restaurants, bars or pubs and spend the whole night maskless around others.

I've updated my original summary post above with the full MoPH Dashboard data for the day now that it's available.

Today's update of the two-week trends chart (March 12-25) from MoPH: From left to right: serious COVID hospitalizations, hospitalized intubations, daily new deaths, two-week daily average of new COVID cases. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528681012083561/?type=3

Newly reported official COVID cases showed an unexpected decline on Friday to 26,050, down almost 1,000 from yesterday's 27,024 total, while serious COVID hospitalizations rose substantially to 1,619 and set a another new record high for the year. The Ministry of Public Health also reported 69 new deaths from COVID on Friday, down 13 from the 82 reported the day before, and also a surprising decrease to the lowest daily number since March 14. In a break from recent upward trends, Friday's official new COVID case count and newly reported deaths both declined to lower levels than each had reported one week prior. On the flip side, though, 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. The new yearly high of 1,619 COVID cases hospitalized in serious condition with pneumonia type symptoms (a large increase of 66 from the prior day) means such cases are now averaging 21 per each of Thailand's 77 provinces, though the government said its hospital bed occupancy rate was only 26.9%. Serious COVID hospitalizations now have risen every day for at least the past week, and now are almost triple the number (555) tallied at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the number of COVID hospitalization cases requiring intubation to breathe also set a new record high for the year, rising by 47 to 630, its first time passing the 600 mark. 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. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.