TallGuyJohninBKK

I get real tired of people trotting out those kinds of anti-science / anti-medicine / anti-facts cliches... The fact is, the virus has changed, from the original one to Delta and now to Omicron. Each with very different characteristics as it turned out. And there was NO WAY anyone could have predicted ahead of time exactly how the virus would mutate and change through the months and years. Science and medicine can only deal with what's before them, and make the best predictions, responses and treatments to what's actually occurring. And then if things and the virus changes, they have to change their predictions, responses and treatments. It really shouldn't be so hard to understand all that. But instead, you're railing against COVID vaccines that literally have saved probably millions of lives around the world during the past year.

The health authorities have consistently reported that historically, any adverse impacts from vaccines at large arrive soon after vaccination, and there is no history of vaccines at large producing delayed, long into the future surprise side effects among children or anyone else. And then, in addition, there's this kind of news from the U.S.: "For the week ending January 6th, over 580,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported," according to numbers released Monday by the AAP. "This number is a 78% increase over the 325,000 added cases reported the week ending December 30th and an almost tripling of case counts from the two weeks prior," the AAP stated. "Covid-19 Infections in children have typically been mild so far in the pandemic, but the sheer magnitude of cases caused by the very contagious Omicron variant is sending children under age 18 to hospitals in record numbers, according to data from the CDC. "I would say the best way to keep those children protected is to vaccinate them as they're eligible and surround them by siblings and parents who are vaccinated themselves," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a Friday news conference." https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/health/deliberate-omicron-infection-wellness/index.html https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#new-hospital-admissions

There are risks, and then there are RISKS... From Johns Hopkins latest COVID situation report from last Thursday: "Global weekly mortality increased for the second week, up 10.88% from the previous week with 48,911 total deaths. Cumulative global mortality passed 5.5 million the week ending January 10, up from 5 million on November 1, 2021. The true global death toll of the pandemic is estimated to be much higher, with models from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and The Economist suggesting COVID-19-related deaths to be between 2 and 4 times higher." "The US is averaging 755,095 new cases and 1,669 deaths per day.* Some models estimate that the cumulative number of deaths could rise above 1 million by mid-March, when the Omicron wave is expected to subside. COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US set another record high this week, with a 7-day average of 21,086 new hospitalizations per day. The CDC is also reporting a surge in the number of current hospitalizations, up from an average of 125,106 hospitalized COVID-19 patients on January 10 to 142,595 on January 17, an increase of 14% over that period. The current average is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic." https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/resources/COVID-19/COVID-19-SituationReports.html

FWIW... not stopping with ages 5 to 11... Fauci says he hopes FDA will authorize Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for kids under 5 in the next month --White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said younger children will likely need three vaccine doses. --Two shots did not induce an adequate immune response in children 2 to 4 years old in Pfizer’s clinical trials. --Pfizer plans to submit data to the Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2022 if the three-dose study proves successful. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/fauci-says-fda-could-authorize-pfizers-covid-vaccine-for-kids-under-5-in-the-next-month.html "Pfizer said it did not identify any safety concerns with the 3-microgram vaccine doses in children 6 months to 4 years old."

My alternate version of @Jeffr2's wording would not have said "fastest"... But perhaps instead.... Our currently best available way through this mess is via vaccines. It's hard to make time judgments, when fully one-third of Thailand, the U.S. and many other places haven't even been fully vaccinated now, two years into COVID and more than one year since the arrival of the vaccines. And many other places with vax rates less than those. It may be that, as things stand now, the best we can hope for given the current crop of vaccines and persistent resistance by some to vaccination is to limit and lessen the health, economic and other impacts of the pandemic -- which itself would still be a significant result -- until better vaccines or treatments come along, and/or, until the pandemic at some point burns out/mutates out via nature.

These are relative terms, that I try to be careful about using. The current vaccines will HELP prevent the spread of Omicron infections by reducing the rate of infection. But they aren't a 100% prevention against infection, especially with Omicron. In my book, though, every little (or not so little) bit helps! And from watching the WHO video Q and A that another member earlier posted in this thread, it sounds like the pharma companies are working now on new vaccine versions designed to better protect against Omicron infections.

Interesting content in the Jan. 11 CNN report you linked above relating to COVID and children, as per the topic of this thread: "Data from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows an upward trend of infections in children, which far exceeds "the peak of past waves of the pandemic." ... Covid-19 Infections in children have typically been mild so far in the pandemic, but the sheer magnitude of cases caused by the very contagious Omicron variant is sending children under age 18 to hospitals in record numbers, according to data from the CDC. "I would say the best way to keep those children protected is to vaccinate them as they're eligible and surround them by siblings and parents who are vaccinated themselves," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a Friday news conference." The CNN report above has specific stats from American Academy of Pediatrics on the extent of spiraling child COVID cases in the U.S., resulting in increased hospitalizations. But the forum's fair use quoting rules limit my ability to quote all those in the above excerpt. But they're there for the reading in the CNN report.

Jeff, that article you cite above on vaccines preventing transmission is from early 2021, well before the arrival of Omicron. While the current vaccines have been shown to still have some effect in preventing/reducing the transmission of Omicron (those here who say there's no prevention are wrong), everything I've been reading of the science lately says that the prevention of transmission effect has lessened a lot with Omicron vs the variants before it. But still some, and still substantial effect in preventing serious illness and death.

And more on this point -- Pfizer vaxed and boosted people are less likely to transmit the virus, including Omicron, than the unvaccinated, from another separate study: "Seventy-eight percent of Danes have been fully vaccinated, while nearly 48% of those have received a third "boosted" shot. More than eight out of ten Danes have received Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine. The study also found that booster-vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus, regardless of the variant, than the unvaccinated." https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-evades-immunity-better-than-delta-danish-study-finds-2022-01-03/

"Dr. David Dowdy, associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it's difficult to succinctly explain the vaccines’ nuanced effects on transmission. A vaccine might protect you from a passing interaction with someone at a grocery store, but it may not prevent infection from someone you live with and share air with for several hours a day. “It gets very easy to misconstrue,” Dowdy said. “If someone asks, do vaccines prevent infection, and you have to give a yes or no answer, then the answer is no, they’re not a perfect blockade. But do the vaccines offer some protection against infection? The answer is yes.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/01/21/fact-check-vaccines-limit-serious-illness-and-death-covid-19/9185671002/

To be fair, and report whatever legitimate news is available, there also was news in the past few days of a very small and preliminary study out of Israel on its use of a fourth Pfizer vaccine booster shot. And, while the researchers involved in that study reported initial findings that the fourth Pfizer dose wasn't very effective at preventing Omicron infections, they also reported those vaccinated with the 4th dose did have somewhat fewer infections. Israeli trial, world’s first, finds 4th dose ‘not good enough’ against Omicron Expert at Sheba Medical Center says jab raises COVID antibody levels, but there are ‘still a lot of infections’ among those who received it Nearly a month after Sheba Medical Center launched a landmark study to test the efficacy of a fourth COVID shot, the hospital said Monday that this fourth booster was only partially effective in protecting against the Omicron strain. “The vaccine, which was very effective against the previous strains, is less effective against the Omicron strain,” Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, a lead researcher in the experiment said. “We see an increase in antibodies, higher than after the third dose,” Regev-Yochay said. “However, we see many infected with Omicron who received the fourth dose. Granted, a bit less than in the control group, but still a lot of infections,” she added. (more) https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-trial-worlds-first-finds-4th-dose-not-good-enough-against-omicron/ So, even the Israel study above contradicts those here who are claiming (in this case mRNA vaccines) do nothing to prevent Omicron infections.

A number of posters here have been claiming, wrongly it seems, that COVID vaccines in general don't at all prevent Omicron infections. That's NOT what the latest science shows, according to a New York Times report last month. "All vaccines still seem to provide a significant degree of protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal. But only the Pfizer and Moderna shots, when reinforced by a booster, appear to have initial success at stopping infections, and these vaccines are unavailable in most of the world. The other shots — including those from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and vaccines manufactured in China and Russia — do little to nothing to stop the spread of Omicron, early research shows. ... The Pfizer and Moderna shots use the new mRNA technology, which has consistently offered the best protection against infection with every variant. All of the other vaccines are based on older methods of triggering an immune response. The Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac — which make up almost half of all shots delivered globally — offer almost zero protection from Omicron infection." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/health/omicron-vaccines-efficacy.html And an update from the NYT yesterday on the same issue, citing new U.S. CDC data: Booster shots are instrumental in protecting against Omicron, new C.D.C. data suggest. "Booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines aren’t just preventing infections with the highly contagious Omicron variant — they’re also keeping infected Americans from ending up in the hospital, according to data published on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra doses are 90 percent effective against hospitalization with the variant, the agency reported. Booster shots also reduced the likelihood of a visit to an emergency department or urgent care clinic. The extra doses were most effective against infection and death among Americans aged 50 and older, the data showed. ... On Thursday night, the C.D.C. published additional data showing that in December, unvaccinated Americans 50 years and older were about 45 times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were vaccinated and got a third shot." https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/health/cdc-covid-booster-omicron.html

The article you cited gives a direct answer to the question you posed. But for some reason, you decided not to reference that explanation in your post above, instead preferring to make some kind of vague innuendo about COVID deaths. Here's the explanation in the article you cited, and it's hardly new or exciting, and the same reality regarding COVID death counts has been recited many times before, to anyone paying attention: "“What the data is showing to us is that the deaths that are being reported as COVID deaths greatly understate the actual death losses among working-age people from the pandemic. It may not all be COVID on their death certificate, but deaths are up just huge, huge numbers.” Let me repeat the key point with my emphasis added: "the deaths that are being reported as COVID deaths greatly understate the actual death losses among working-age people from the pandemic."

FAA estimates 78 percent of US planes can now land at airports with 5G C-band It seems to be quickly clearing altimeters now that the rollout has happened "The FAA has announced that an “estimated 78 percent of the U.S. commercial fleet” have been cleared to land at airports with 5G C-band, even under low-visibility conditions. The agency’s statement comes after a week of controversy surrounding the rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s upgraded cellular tech, which saw US airlines warning of “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping and some international airlines announcing they’d halt flights to some US airports.'' Finally, a bit better explanation of why the kerfuffle, especially given that Verizon and AT&T were only going to use new 5G bands fairly far from the altimeter frequencies -- ALTIMETER TESTING!: "Given the high stakes, the FAA has said that only planes with altimeters that it has tested and cleared will be allowed to land in sub-optimal conditions at airports where the new 5G tech has rolled out. ... The FAA changed that language on Thursday, saying that the 13 cleared altimeters should cover “all” Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787, MD-10/-11, and Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A330, A340, A350, and A380 models. It also notes that “some” Embraer 170 and 190 regional jets are covered." Still, 22% of the U.S.'s civil aviation fleet is A LOT of jets and flights that currently aren't cleared to operate at airports where the new 5G services have been turned on. https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/20/22893597/faa-5g-c-band-rollout-airports-cleared-altimeters-regional-jets I guess my question is, why is the FAA only faffing around with testing the altimeter models vs the new 5G frequency bands NOW???

Know you're not interested in beaches. But you can do pretty much everything you ask for above in Hua Hin (and adjoining Cha-Am)... Wife and I just came back from a 4 day trip there, and thoroughly enjoyed it as a get-away from BKK. Great weather right now. Lots of very good farang eating and drinking places. Grab is readily available for local transport. Shopping as desired, etc etc. Plenty of hotels to choose from, and rates quite good right now. You can easily take a taxi. But we took the VIP bus that runs daily between Suvarnabhumi and HH for a few hundred baht per person. About a 3 to 3.5 hour trip.

"Back in February 2021, Verizon and AT&T paid $45.4 billion and $23.4 billion, respectively, for C-band spectrum for 5G use in the most expensive spectrum auction in history. Fast forward almost a year, and both telcos voluntarily agreed in early December to postpone their C-band deployment for a month due to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerns that the use of these 5G bands could interfere with existing radio-based safety equipment, a delay which was subsequently extended to January 19." ... Part of the frustration evident from the network operators lies in the fact that C-band spectrum is already widely used elsewhere in the world for 5G, without showing any detrimental impact on aircraft passenger safety. C-band spectrum has already been deployed, and commercial networks launched, by a total of 136 network operators in 56 countries worldwide, according to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). This includes almost 11,000 airports (assuming nationwide coverage in each market). It’s also not new — the earliest use of C-band spectrum for 5G was in South Korea, which launched in Q4 2018." "The operators have been at pains to point out that their C-band spectrum includes a 220 MHz wide guard band, utilizing the lower portion of the C-band, from 3.7 GHz to 3.8 GHz." https://www.speedtest.net/insights/blog/verizon-att-cant-wait-for-c-band/

From the full version of the OP news report: "In Thailand, 5G uses the 2.6GHz frequency band, which is quite a distance from the radio altimeter frequency band, and should not cause interference." "The potential impact of 5G signals on aircraft relates to interference with the operation of critical and highly sensitive systems, especially the radio altimeter, which typically operates in the 4.2GHz – 4.4GHz range." Not even close....

Originally, there were a bunch of flight cancellation announcements, but later several of the airlines issuing those seem to have backed off them: "The FAA on Wednesday said it has issued new approvals that will allow around 62% of commercial planes in the US to make "low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies deployed 5G C-band. Even with these approvals, flights at some airports may still be affected," the FAA added. Japan Airlines said it will resume flights on its Boeing 777 planes to the US as a result, while ANA has taken down the page where it previously detailed cancelled flights. Emirates has since clarified three return flights will continue running on a different airplane, including Dubai to Boston, San Francisco and Houston on Jan. 20 with the return services on Jan. 21. Emirates will still be suspending flights to Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami, Newark, Orlando and Seattle on Jan. 20, however." https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/major-international-airlines-cancel-some-us-flights-amid-5g-rollout/ So, maybe some aviation type here can better explain this.... Is what the FAA is doing via the announcement above is giving MORE flights and pilots permission to make manual landings (low visibility landings) without having the rely on the altimeters that MIGHT be impaired???

No.... this internal feud has been going on in the U.S. on this issue for some time. And there were several prior postponements of earlier dates for AT&T and Verizon (the U.S. mobile carriers involved) turning on the new 5G service on the bands in question that had been requested by the federal transportation agency, and agreed to by the mobile carriers, on behalf of the airlines and their concerns. Also, yes, from everything I've read, the reason this has become a particular problem in the U.S., and not generally an issue elsewhere, is because the U.S. government auctioned off 5G spectrum not generally used elsewhere that apparently comes too close to the aviation related frequencies. [AFAIK, there's almost NO overlap between the 5G bands used right now in TH vs those currently used in the U.S.] Now, WHY the Federal Communications Commission proceeded with auctioning off those bands when apparently there were concerns by the aviation industry, I haven't seen very well explained. At least until recently, I saw the government FCC types insisting they didn't think there's be any operating conflict, contrary to the aviation industry's position.

I'd certainly "jump" her if the opportunity arose! ????

Recall the news story here a week or two back on how members of the RTP supposedly have amassed huge amounts of personal debt. I'm guessing, it's not all going for mia nois.... On the other hand, after perusing the photos for this article, maybe it is! ????

I think to some extent, there's a different rental culture that exists here vs in my home country, perhaps in part because of market conditions, perhaps in part other things... When I rented in the U.S., the owners were usually companies, either big or small. And there really wasn't any personal element to the transactions. Most of the time, the rents went UP every year for everyone in the complex, regardless of whether they'd lived there 1 year or 20. Often, 4-7 percent per year. And perhaps part of the reason for that is the rental market in the U.S. in general is tight. Here. because of oversupply of new housing, the economy and lately COVID, I think tenants in general have more leverage. And PERHAPS landlords are more willing to operate the way you have, and the way my landlord has. Although, you're a private party landlord, as is my landlord, not some corporate rental entity. I'm guessing, those types here aren't so accommodating.

Yummy!!! ????

Are you renting your units today for the same monthly rate that you charged in 2007? ????

This whole topic has long been a mystery to me here in Thailand. In my home country, clearly, the landlord would be responsible for needed repairs to things like air con or provided appliances in the unit. Because, it's their property, not the tenant's. Here, it often doesn't seem to work that way. I've lived in the same rental for almost 15 years now in BKK, and the boilerplate lease in TH language I've always had and renewed with the private party TH landlord is silent on such things. In practice, the landlord has never paid for things like air con service or cleaning, or even the replacement of one air con unit that died at one point. We have, and did. But, we also like our home very much, have a great location, don't want to move, are on very good terms with the landlord's family who also lives-on site, AND, are paying the same below market rental rate as when I moved in almost 15 years ago. So, I pay for the air con cleaning and service, and to replace the unit when one dies every 10 years or so.... Hard to complain really, under the circumstances. But, in general, as a tenant, I think things like air con repairs ought to be the landlord's responsibility. I still don't know what Thai law thinks on that subject.