TallGuyJohninBKK

AFAIK, contrary to your claim above, COVID vaccines were never "mandated" "for EVERYBODY irrespective of their age," not in the UK, not in the US, not in Thailand, etc. The loud proclamations here of various posters boasting that they were never vaccinated and never will be attest to that -- not to mention the global statistics showing that only about two-thirds of the global population ever received the basic original two-dose COVID vaccinations. And rates for youngsters are far less than that. So clearly there was no "EVERYBODY" mandate. There were, OTOH, many RECOMMENDATIONS. https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/vaccines?n=c What there were, in various places to varying extents hardly involving "EVERYBODY", were selective requirements by some employers that their employees needed to be vaccinated if they wanted to continue in their jobs, especially in the health care sectors, and mandates by various countries at various times to show proof of vaccination if one wanted to travel internationally during the worst of the pandemic.

I don't think lightning strikes, or whatever other irrelevancies you may produce, are quite in the same league: "Cumulative figures since the start of the current year are COVID new hospitalizations (13,057) & COVID deaths (93)." --501 current COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition (pneumonia symptoms), up 111 / 28.5% from the prior week (dark purple) https://aseannow.com/topic/1311049-weekly-thai-ministry-of-public-health-covid-reports/?do=findComment&comment=18893197

A good, and not unexpected, example of misrepresenting what statistics really mean: Average Covid-19 victim dies years before they otherwise would What was Claimed: The average age of Covid-19 deaths is higher than the average life expectancy, which means that people who get Covid live longer. Our Verdict: This isn’t how life expectancy works. Life expectancy is an average, pulled down by people who die young. As you age, your life expectancy increases. People dying from Covid-19 lose about a decade of life on average. A set of data called the National Life Tables, produced by the ONS, shows how life expectancy adjusts as a person ages. An 82-year-old man can expect to live for another 7.4 years on average, while an 85-year-old woman can expect to live another 6.87 years on average. https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/

Or this: Estimating the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in Europe Published: 08 June 2020 "Here we study the effect of major interventions across 11 European countries for the period from the start of the COVID-19 epidemics in February 2020 until 4 May 2020, when lockdowns started to be lifted. ... We estimate that—for all of the countries we consider here—current interventions have been sufficient to drive Rt below 1 (probability Rt < 1.0 is greater than 99%) and achieve control of the epidemic. We estimate that across all 11 countries combined, between 12 and 15 million individuals were infected with SARS-CoV-2 up to 4 May 2020, representing between 3.2% and 4.0% of the population. Our results show that major non-pharmaceutical interventions—and lockdowns in particular—have had a large effect on reducing transmission. Continued intervention should be considered to keep transmission of SARS-CoV-2 under control. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2405-7#article-info

1.5 million potential years of life lost to COVID-19 in the UK, with each life cut short by 10 years on average New analysis reveals ‘devastating’ scale of loss, with UK response ‘falling short in key areas’ 23 March 2021 New analysis from the Health Foundation's REAL Centre has set out the huge loss of life from COVID-19 one year on from the first lockdown. With 146,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the UK, up to 1.5 million potential years of life have been lost, with those who died losing up to 10 years of life on average. Almost three quarters of those who died were aged over 75, with people in this age group losing an average 6.5 years of life. ... When compared with flu, the researchers found that despite misconceptions early in the pandemic, COVID-19 has been much deadlier, even with full scale national lockdowns in place. In an average year around 30,000 people die from flu and pneumonia, with around 250,000 years of life lost. This is just a sixth of the years lost to COVID-19, or a quarter when comparing with deaths of over 75s. https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/1.5-million-potential-years-of-life-lost-to-covid-19

Study finds more than 28 million extra years of life lost in 31 countries in 2020 Over 28 million more years of life were lost than expected in 2020 in 31 upper-middle and high-income countries, finds a study published by The BMJ today. Except for Taiwan, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and South Korea, all other countries examined had more premature deaths than expected in 2020, with a higher rate in men than women. The highest rates of excess premature deaths were in Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and the US. Understanding the full impact of the covid-19 pandemic requires not only counting excess deaths (difference between observed and expected numbers of deaths from all causes), but also analysing how premature those deaths are. https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/study-finds-more-than-28-million-extra-years-of-life-lost-in-31-countries-in-2020/

Or this: Study: Physical distancing better at stemming COVID-19 than US/Mexico border closure A genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in San Diego and Mexico reveals that physical distancing was more effective than international border closures in containing the virus. Scripps Research scientists and colleagues sequenced more than 82,000 SARS-CoV-2 samples gathered from routine genomic surveillance in San Diego and the state of Baja California, Mexico, to reconstruct viral spread dynamics from March 2020 to the end of the first Omicron surge in December 2022. ... Mandate relaxation led to more distant travel During stay-at-home and physical distancing mandates early in the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 spread primarily within and between adjacent counties. But as mandates eased, people started to travel farther, and COVID-19 spread from distant locations rose. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-physical-distancing-better-stemming-covid-19-usmexico-border-closure

Or this: What We’ve Learned About So-Called ‘Lockdowns’ and the COVID-19 Pandemic "Plenty of peer-reviewed studies have found government restrictions early in the pandemic, such as business closures and physical distancing measures, reduced COVID-19 cases and/or mortality, compared with what would have happened without those measures. ... In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as the virus spread around the globe, many countries implemented restrictions on movement and social gatherings in an effort to flatten the curve — or reduce sharp spikes in caseloads to avoid overwhelming health care facilities. Without vaccines or evidence-based treatments, these non-pharmaceutical interventions, or NPIs, were the only public health measures available for months to combat the pandemic. ... There have been a lot of studies assessing whether and to what extent so-called “lockdowns” and various NPIs have been effective, and plenty of research that has concluded these measures can limit transmission, or reduce cases and deaths. https://www.factcheck.org/2022/03/scicheck-what-weve-learned-about-so-called-lockdowns-and-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Remember this? Earlier lockdown could have saved lives of 30,000, Hancock tells Covid inquiry Tens of thousands of lives could have been saved if the UK had locked down three weeks earlier, Matt Hancock has told the Covid inquiry, as he described the operation of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street as undermined by a “culture of fear”. The former health secretary said his staff were abused by Dominic Cummings and that Johnson’s then chief adviser attempted to exclude ministers and even Johnson himself from key decisions at the start of the pandemic, hampering the government’s response. ... Hancock argued that in retrospect the ideal date for a first lockdown would have been three weeks earlier than the eventual date of 23 March 2020, saying this could have prevented about 90% of the death toll in the first Covid wave, or more than 30,000 lives. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/30/hancock-tells-covid-inquiry-of-toxic-culture-in-johnson-government

Remember this? Lockdowns and face masks ‘unequivocally’ cut spread of Covid, report finds Royal Society review looks at non-pharmaceutical interventions when applied in packages of several measures Measures taken during the Covid pandemic such as social distancing and wearing face masks “unequivocally” reduced the spread of infections, a report has found. Experts looked at the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) – not drugs or vaccines – when applied in packages that combine a number of measures that complement one another. The Royal Society report, called Covid-19: examining the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions, reviewed the evidence gathered during the pandemic for six groups of NPIs and their effectiveness in reducing transmission. ... When assessed individually, there was positive – if limited – evidence of transmission reduction from many of the NPIs used in the pandemic, the review found. However, evidence of a positive effect was clear when countries used combinations of NPIs. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/24/lockdowns-face-masks-unequivocally-cut-spread-covid-study-finds

Reduce, yes. Study finds lifting mask mandates led to thousands of new COVID cases in Mass. schools Updated November 10, 2022 Massachusetts school districts that lifted mask mandates immediately after the state relaxed its requirement in February saw far more COVID-19 cases than districts that retained the policy voluntarily, according to a new study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The new research from authors at Harvard University, Boston University and the Boston Public Health Commission provides evidence for supporters of mask mandates as they call for school districts to enact protections against future surges. ... The study's authors say their results clearly show masks prevent transmission of COVID-19 in classrooms. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2022-11-09/study-finds-lifting-mask-mandates-led-to-thousands-of-new-covid-cases-in-mass-schools

Again, answered above:

The challenge for supporting evidence you made has already been answered above:

Review estimates 69% 3-dose vaccine efficacy against long COVID A meta-analysis today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology estimates a vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 69% for three doses of COVID-19 vaccine against long COVID, while two doses offer 37% efficacy. Led by researchers at the University of Iowa, the meta-analysis involved 24 studies on COVID-19 VE against long COVID among recipients of at least two doses of a vaccine before or after infection from December 2019 to June 2023. ... Much lower long-COVID prevalence among vaccinated The pooled prevalence of long COVID was 11.8% among unvaccinated participants and 5.3% among recipients of at least two vaccine doses. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/review-estimates-69-3-dose-vaccine-efficacy-against-long-covid The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to prevent long COVID symptoms: staggered cohort study of data from the UK, Spain, and Estonia "Vaccination against COVID-19 consistently reduced the risk of long COVID symptoms, which highlights the importance of vaccination to prevent persistent COVID-19 symptoms, particularly in adults." ... To our knowledge, this is the first multinational study to assess population-level vaccine effectiveness to prevent long COVID symptoms. Our study of more than 10 million vaccinated people and 10 million unvaccinated people, showed that COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of developing long COVID. Our findings were consistent across three different European countries and four databases, covering different health-care settings and national health-care policies. All vaccines reduced the risk of developing long COVID symptoms, with BNT162b2 showing slightly better effectiveness than ChAdOx1. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(23)00414-9/fulltext#

"Long COVID is defined as a multisystem disease that have a devastating effect on any organ system, with potentially lifelong consequences. Rates of long COVID among people who have contracted SARS-CoV-2 vary controversially between studies and regions, from about 10 percent to a staggering 50 percent of people who’ve had the virus reported as having long term symptoms." https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2023/12/27/every-covid-infection-increases-your-risk-of-long-covid-study-warns/ At least 14% of Americans have long COVID, research suggests The researchers found that nearly half (47%) of people surveyed reported having had COVID-19 at some point, while 14% of the total had had long COVID at some point, half of whom (7% of the total) still had long COVID symptoms when answering the survey. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-americans-covid.html Almost a third of COVID survivors report symptoms 2 years post-infection A meta-analysis of 12 studies shows that 30% of COVID-19 survivors have persistent symptoms 2 years after infection, the most common of which are fatigue, cognitive problems, and pain. For the study, published yesterday in the Journal of Infection, an international team led by a researcher from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, searched the literature for observational and case-control studies of long COVID 2 years after infection. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/almost-third-covid-survivors-report-symptoms-2-years-post-infection

Sometimes, that may be because they're being paid a marginal wage and working for supervisors who treat them like dirt. Other times, I get the feeling that many Thais just aren't as invested in their jobs and careers as some Westerners are. For those folks, it's just a thing to do in order to get by and pay the bills.

Until the company issues a fix, the only workaround is to skip or uninstall it. Microsoft says the April security updates for Windows may break your VPN. (Oops!) “Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update (KB5036893) or the April 2024 non-security preview update,” the company wrote in a status update. It’s working on a fix. Bleeping Computer first reported the issue, which affects Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2008 and later. User reports on Reddit are mixed, with some commenters saying their VPNs still work after installing the update and others claiming their encrypted connections were indeed borked. “We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release,” Microsoft wrote. ... At least one Redditor claims that uninstalling and reinstalling their VPN app fixed the problem for them, so it may be worth trying that before moving on to more drastic measures. https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-latest-windows-security-updates-might-break-your-vpn-202050679.html

There are a lot of very nice people in Thailand. But in my experience living here for many years, institutional customer service -- that offered by big/bigger businesses and establishments -- tends to be pretty poor. Customer service phone lines and emails often go unanswered, or if there's any answer, it's often with some pre-called reply. Get a hold of someone on the phone, and a good portion of the time, they don't know what's going on, and if they do give you info, it often turns out to be wrong. Escalate your issue/complaint to a supervisor or manager. The manager/supervisor asks you to send a detailed email with all the needed information, and they promise to get back to you with a reply. You send in the requested info, then never get any reply from anyone. Some grocery delivery service schedules you for a delivery say between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on a particular day. Then on the day, the driver/delivery guy shows up at your doorstep at 10 a.m. or Noon with no advance notice or call to check if you're actually home. Etc etc etc.

You're temporarily going back to the U.S. for some reason. For a short visit, you can stay in a reasonably priced hotel/motel. But what if you don't have any family/relatives in the U.S. anymore and need to stay two-weeks or a month or more? Then what? Nightly hotel-motel rates these days still can be very expensive, especially in the bigger cities near international airports. But you're not going to be staying so long that you likely can rent a furnished apartment month-to-month. So what to do? Last time I checked, the alternative accommodation sites like VRBO and AirBNB seemed to have higher nightly rates in the U.S. than many of the reasonably priced hotels-motels, because those two services are often offering entire homes as opposed to a modest hotel room. So, what to do for a two-week to two-month stay back in the States with no family/relatives to mooch on?

Last year it was announced that T-Mobile would acquire Mint Mobile and, now, that deal has officially closed. Here’s what that means for you. In a press release today, T-Mobile officially welcomes Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile to “Team T-Mobile” after the deal to buy the two companies was officially approved by the FCC last week. T-Mobile explains in a post that the acquisition “locks in” connectivity for Mint and Ultra “for the long-term.” ... But the key question here is, does this change anything for existing Mint Mobile customers? In the short term at least, no. T-Mobile is reiterating its promise – “commitmint” – to continue offering Mint’s $15/month pricing option. This price is available when pre-purchasing multiple months of service and is among the most affordable options for cellular service in the United States. There’s no promise, though, on how long this offer will continue to be available. (more) https://9to5google.com/2024/05/01/t-mobile-mint-mobile-offiicially-owns/

Things have been getting better, particularly when it comes to COVID deaths. But hardly done yet. Per the U.S. CDC: "The decline in deaths associated with COVID-19 is even more dramatic than the drop in hospitalizations. In 2021, over 450,000 deaths among Americans were associated with COVID-19, while in 2023, that number fell to roughly 75,000. This represents an 83% decrease since early in the pandemic. That said, the number of COVID-19-related deaths is still substantial, impacting families across the country. Based on preliminary data, COVID-19 still ranks as the 10th most common cause of death in the U.S. for 2023, a drop from 3rd in 2020 and 2021 and 4th in 2022. [emphasis added]" https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/changing-threat-covid-19.html

the group that was hit the hardest was the 7 million who officially died from COVID, with the real figure likely to be several times that high into the high 20 millions. There's no recovering once you're dead. https://archive.ph/qaYDw

Yes, they looked at traditional economic measurements, but didn't cover all the involved factors/costs: "Putting a price tag on all the pain, suffering and upheaval Americans and people around the world have experienced because of COVID-19 is, of course, hard to do. More than 1.1 million people have died as a result of COVID-19 in the U.S., and many more have been hospitalized or lost loved ones. ... What is not known We modeled only the pandemic’s standard economic effects. We didn’t estimate the vast array of economic costs tied to COVID-19, such as lost years of work after an early death or a severe case of long-COVID-19. We also didn’t assess the costs due to the many ways that the disease has affected the physical and mental health of the U.S. population or the learning loss experienced by students." And the bottom line is -- the more people who were vaccinated, the fewer COVID deaths that occurred, and that lessened the costs to society in a multitude of ways.

That's all the public detail the MoPH provides... And they had ceased proving any age data on local COVID deaths until just recently, when they finally resumed specifying the general age ranges again. If you're not satisfied and want more details, you need to take it up with the Thai MoPH.

There have been a lot of different studies done by a lot of different researchers around the world on the impact of COVID vaccines during the pandemic, and they all have come to the same/similar conclusions: COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5 Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion, 3 million lives https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives COVID-19 vaccinations have saved more than 1.4 million lives in the WHO European Region, a new study finds https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/16-01-2024-covid-19-vaccinations-have-saved-more-than-1.4-million-lives-in-the-who-european-region--a-new-study-finds