TallGuyJohninBKK

New virus strain spikes in 9 US states with symptoms from brain fog to persistent cough Stratus COVID variant shows ability to evade immune system better than previous strains September 25, 2025 "As COVID-19 continues to evolve, a new strain is spiking case numbers worldwide. The XFG variant, also known as Stratus, has been gaining momentum after first being detected in Southeast Asia in January, according to the World Health Organization. The organization designated Stratus as a "SATS-CoV-2 variant under monitoring" after it had spread to 38 countries by June. Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in nine U.S. states, including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and both North and South Dakota, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s wastewater monitoring in the U.S. has identified XFG as the "predominant variant," based on data from the week of Sept. 15. ... For high-risk groups, severe COVID-19 illness can be reduced by staying up to date with vaccinations, experts advise. [emphasis added] The virus can also be prevented by wearing a mask in crowded or indoor spaces, especially during cold and flu season, opening a window or using an air filter while indoors, washing hands often, avoiding close contact with others and checking local COVID numbers before traveling, the above source stated. (more) https://www.foxnews.com/health/new-virus-strain-spikes-us-states-symptoms-from-brain-fog-persistent-cough

The anti-vaxers here seem to think mRNA technology and vaccines are the Great Satan.... But the UK government clearly has a much different view: "Adaptable, quicker to develop and potentially more accurate than traditional medicines, RNA therapies will make sure our health services are ready to take on pandemics, rare conditions and other emerging diseases." https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-vaccines-to-be-made-in-oxfordshire-and-government-unveils-50-million-fund-in-double-boost-for-life-sciences

Background context from the U.S.:

The U.S. government, for the time being under Donald Trump and RFK Jr., may be halting government investment in mRNA vaccine technology and research. But the United Kingdom is going in the opposite direction, celebrating the opening of a new Moderna plant capable of producing up to 250 million vaccine doses per year, and creating a £50 million fund to support recruitment of other life sciences research and development activities to the country: "The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) today [Sept. 25] announced the opening of a new Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre in Harwell that has the capacity to make up to 250 million mRNA vaccine doses in a year in the event of a pandemic. In a statement, the HSA also said the country has established a $66.7 million (£50 million) fund to bring more research and development investments to the country and that Moderna is investing more than $1.3 billion (£1 billion) in a partnership with the United Kingdom over the next 10 years to discover new therapies, create jobs, and bolster pandemic preparedness." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/quick-takes-avian-flu-wisconsin-poultry-plague-new-mexico-new-uk-mrna Millions of vaccines to be made in Oxfordshire, and government unveils £50 million fund, in double boost for life sciences "Pioneering US biotech firm Moderna will make millions of vaccines for seasonal viruses like COVID-19, create dozens of highly skilled jobs, and help build a Britain that’s more resilient to pandemics thanks to a new cutting-edge research centre opening in Oxfordshire today (Wednesday 24 September). The new Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre is the latest addition to the UK’s £100 billion life sciences sector to come out of Moderna’s 10-year strategic partnership with the government. The partnership also includes an over £1 billion programme of investment in UK R&D being brought forward by the company, tapping into the UK’s deep skills base, world-class academic institutions, and the power of the NHS as an engine for research and innovation. Today’s opening sends out a clear signal about this government’s ambitions to unleash life sciences as a force for boosting our health, our wealth, and our national resilience. Strong and fruitful partnerships like this one, with Moderna, form a critical part of these endeavours. The facility will support around 150 highly-skilled jobs, while enabling groundbreaking work on the use of mRNA vaccine technology to tackle cancer and seasonal infections like flu, RSV and COVID-19, subject to the usual regulatory processes. RNA technology is an emerging field of healthcare with the potential to overhaul how we tackle a wide range of diseases that currently cause ill-health and distress. It could also be utilised to produce up to 250 million vaccine doses a year in the event of a pandemic, making a critical contribution to our national resilience to future health emergencies, by building the UK’s capacity to produce cutting-edge therapies at scale, at home, should they be needed." ... The work Moderna are doing shows how the UK is already the go-to destination for mRNA research. Adaptable, quicker to develop and potentially more accurate than traditional medicines, RNA therapies will make sure our health services are ready to take on pandemics, rare conditions and other emerging diseases. The government is determined to work with industry and academia to seize this technology’s vast potential." (more) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-vaccines-to-be-made-in-oxfordshire-and-government-unveils-50-million-fund-in-double-boost-for-life-sciences Clearly, the rest of the world is learning, no one if they can avoid it particularly wants to be relying on a U.S. government run by Trump and RFK Jr. when it comes to health and medical matters.

Wow! I couldn't have said it better myself. You got a way with words there! 🙂

Whenever you start a thread and post with the words.... "Dr. Bhakdi".... it's a reasonable presumption that all the follows is going to be anti-vaxer fruitcake nonsense... as all the various reaction posts above documenting Bhakdi's disreputable history and track record on these topics make abudantly clear.

Bhakdi has a long list of proven nonsense COVID misinformation claims, including: https://science.feedback.org/?s=Surachit+Bhakdi

And more than that: "Bhakdi has made a number of false statements about the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the pandemic is a "fake", that face masks and quarantines are "nonsense" and that the COVID-19 vaccines are deadly and will decimate the global population. [emphasis added] He has been otherwise criticised for his theses on the COVID-19 pandemic; according to Medical Tribune [de], they are considered unscientific by a majority of experts. [emphasis added] ... Responses to Bhakdi's claims Bhakdi's claims, in particular in his YouTube videos and in the book Corona Fehlalarm?, have been extensively fact-checked and found to be variously unsubstantiated, misleading, or false. [emphasis added] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucharit_Bhakdi

Re the OP post's source, more anonymous fruitcake salad!!! https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/ YEESH!!!

-------------------------------------------------------- Forgotten Propaganda about Vaccine Hot Lots "It seems that these anti-vaccine influencers have forgotten all of the other times this type of propaganda has been used in the past to scare people. Remember when anti-vaccine folks used to publish hot lot lists? And all of the times it has been debunked, because it simply isn’t true. There are no hot lots of vaccines. [emphasis added] Where did ‘they’ get this idea of hot lots? They got the idea from looking at VAERS reports and matching vaccine lot numbers with those reports, ignoring the very simple fact the vaccines are produced in very variable lot sizes. Of course, the other problem with that approach is that just because a report is in VAERS, it doesn’t mean that the vaccine is to blame for whatever is in the report." COVID Vaccine Hot Lots Pierre Kory has been going so far as pushing the idea of COVID vaccine hot lots, but it still isn’t true." Vaxopedia, written by (a REAL medical doctor) https://vaxopedia.org/2024/07/24/forgotten-propaganda-about-vaccine-hot-lots/ Vincent Iannelli, MD @AboutPediatrics I see quacks... and I write about vaccines and pediatrics. Board Certification American Board of Pediatrics --AI assisted ..Unlike the anonymous so-called Midwestern Doctor.... PS - Given that A [so-called] Midwestern Doctor is reposting content from the disgraced anti-vaxer doctor Pierre Kory, you can pretty well put them both into the QUACKjob category.... "ABIM had previously revoked the board certification of two other doctors who made controversial claims about COVID-19: Paul Marik, MD, and Pierre Kory, MD. Both previously had certifications in internal medicine and critical care medicine, and Kory additionally held a certification in pulmonary disease. [emphasis added] https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/113624 "Pierre Kory is an American critical care physician who gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for advocating widespread off-label use of ineffective drug treatments for COVID-19, as president and co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). In August 2023, the American Board of Internal Medicine informed Kory his certifications were to be revoked for spreading medical misinformation.[5] As of August 2024, Kory's three certifications are listed as "not certified, revoked" on ABIM's website.[6] Kory is president and co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a small U.S. organization of physicians and former journalists formed in April 2020 that advocates for ineffective COVID-19 treatments, including ivermectin.[14][1][2][15] The FLCCC falsely states that ivermectin reduces viral load and accelerates recovery in patients, while the World Health Organization, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and European Medicines Agency advise against the use of ivermectin outside of clinical trials. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Kory The above Wiki recap provides a long list of Kory's various medical misdeeds, including having papers he published retracted, and how left unable to practice mainstream medicine because his medical certifications had been revoked, he turned to hawking supposed cocktail virus cures and opened his own “advanced COVID-19 care center", charging US$1,250 to 1,650 for three appointments.

Yet another in the poster's endless repertoire of ANONYMOUS anti-vax bloggers of totally unknown credentials and credibility. Real and credible sources on public health and medical matters don't hide beyond ANONYMOUS Substack blogs.... They publish their findings under their own names, often in peer reviewed medical journals.... But no, not this snake oil peddler. --AI supported Hmm... "The author has written in favor of unproven or controversial treatments." That certainly sounds like a died-in-the-wool anti-vaxer. Is he really a doctor? Maybe he's a quack doctor like the anti-vaxers favorite doctor, Peter McCullough, who was stripped on his medical board certifications for posting COVID misinformation, and has had studies published under his name retracted by journals that found his claims unsupported by his evidence. Or perhaps he's Pierre Kory, another anti-vaxer doctor who likewise was stripped of his board certifications for peddling COVID misinformation nonsense, and likewise had some of his published research retracted. https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/113624 Or maybe the Midwestern Doctor isn't really a doctor at all... Who knows? The only thing we really know is he or she is some anonymous anti-vaxer hiding behind an anonymous blog who's make documented dubious claims in the past. Buyer beware!!!

Normally, I'm not much of one for conspiracy theories... But this being Thailand and Thaksin being Thaksin, I wouldn't put this one past them trying to pull off....

Wow... where to start.... First, yet another ANONYMOUS Substack blog written by who knows who.....a person of unknown character and qualification who declares: "In realizing that our corporatized governments lied to us about all things Covid/Vaccines, I was left with one question: What else have they lied to me about?" [emphasis added] Then, a mostly unsourced / no citations article that relies on a bunch of disreputable characters like serial misinformer/conspiracy peddler Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sasha Latpova, the latter already shown to have been peddling false COVID conspiracy theories. RFK Jr.: "conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist" Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, serving as the 26th United States secretary of health and human services since 2025. ... Since 2005, Kennedy has promoted vaccine misinformation[1] and public-health conspiracy theories,[2] including the chemtrail conspiracy theory,[3] HIV/AIDS denialism,[4] and the scientifically disproved claim of a causal link between vaccines and autism.[5] He has drawn criticism for fueling vaccine hesitancy amid a social climate that gave rise to the deadly measles outbreaks in Samoa and Tonga." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr. AND Alexandra ("Sasha") Latypova: "gained prominence for promoting unproven and inaccurate claims...." These folks are so far out there on the looney tunes scale that it's hard to even find much addressing their claims, but there is some, as follows: COVID-19 Vaccines Tested in Clinical Trials, Despite Bogus Social Media Claims "The COVID-19 vaccines were tested in large, randomized controlled trials before the Food and Drug Administration authorized them for emergency use. But a popular YouTube video spins a conspiracy theory that distorts legal codes to falsely claim otherwise. [emphasis added] ... The video features Alexandra, or Sasha, Latypova, who is described as “a former executive of a pharmaceutical contract research organization.” She has previously made media appearances with organizations opposed to vaccines, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense, and has written for the pseudoscientific website TrialSiteNews. In the Redacted interview, Latypova makes a series of false claims, many predicated on her misreading of government contracts and the legal code. Lawyers with expertise in the area told us the claims are bunk. ... It’s worth noting that while Latypova and Morris make much of the Department of Defense’s role in the COVID-19 vaccine program, there is nothing unusual about it. https://www.factcheck.org/2023/01/scicheck-covid-19-vaccines-tested-in-clinical-trials-despite-strongbogus-social-media-claims-strong/ And then as for the blog article's claim about COVID vaccines containing "toxins": Bizarre claims circulate that COVID-19 vaccines contain toxins, nanochips, and parasites "The claims include many disproven conspiracy theories, including that COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide, radiofrequency trackers, toxic metals, and nanochips. One post claims COVID-19 vaccines originated as a military experiment using CRISPR DNA editing technology.... In the nearly two and a half years since the vaccines became available, there has been no evidence to support any of the claims made in these posts. The ingredients of all COVID-19 vaccines have been available online for over two years. Independent analysis of the vaccines has shown that they do not contain any toxic ingredients, including graphene oxide, heavy metals, tracking devices, or parasites. No COVID-19 vaccines were developed using CRISPR." [emphasis added] https://publichealthcollaborative.org/alerts/bizarre-claims-circulate-that-covid-19-vaccines-contain-toxins-nanochips-and-parasites/ Then lastly, the article briefly in passing mentions this conspiracy theory peddler, Stefano Scoglio, who mostly seemed (there are reports he's lately deceased) to write about algae when he wasn't doing his COVID conspiracy theory schtick. Publisher Description The population is terrified by reports of so-called COVID-19, measles, swine flu, SARS, BSE, AIDS or polio. However, the authors of "Virus Mania," investigative journalist Torsten Engelbrecht, Dr. Claus Köhnlein, MD, Dr. Samantha Bailey, MD, and Dr. Stefano Scoglio, BSc PhD, show that this fearmongering is unfounded and that virus mayhem ignores basic scientific facts: The existence, the pathogenicity and the deadly effects of these agents have never been proven. https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/virus-mania-corona-covid-19-measles-swine-flu-cervical/id1565689478 Really, scraping the bottom of the barrel into conspiracy theory looney tunes land!

Wow.. that's such a powerful, accurate and funny video. Should be mandatory viewing for you know who... Kimmel really has a way with delivering a message, even though he's just a talk show host. Thanks for sharing that! PS - Worth noting, that video above is from 2015... Things are way way worse now, sadly.

There's a saying about people who ASSume too much.... "Neither thimerosal nor aluminum were ever in the MMR vaccine, which is the vaccine that was first linked — incorrectly and fraudulently — to autism." https://www.factcheck.org/2025/09/repeated-falsehoods-at-autism-press-conference/

Measles Symptoms and Complications Measles can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children. .... Encephalitis. About 1 child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain). This can lead to convulsions and leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability. Death. Nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms/

It's especially sad when the brightest among us fall victim to the sickness: "V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai (born Vellayappa Ayyadurai Shiva[1] on December 2, 1963) is an Indian-American engineer, entrepreneur, and anti-vaccine activist. He has become known for promoting conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and unfounded medical claims.[2] Ayyadurai holds four degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including a PhD in biological engineering, and is a Fulbright grant recipient. ... During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayyadurai became known for a social media COVID-19 disinformation campaign, spreading conspiracy theories about the cause of COVID-19, promoting unfounded COVID-19 treatments, and campaigning to fire Anthony Fauci for allegedly being a deep state actor. [emphasis added] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Ayyadurai "Ayyadurai baselessly ranted back in November 2020 that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. He also accused National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci last year of being a “deep state” operative, has baselessly promoted vitamin C as a treatment for COVID-19, and says he invented email. Ayyadurai is not a medical doctor." https://www.yahoo.com/news/arizona-gop-hired-anti-vaccine-104148614.html

Doesn't take much to remember back to 2020 and 2021... including before COVID vaccines began rolling out at the start of 2021: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-deaths-funeral-homes-overwhelmed/ Funeral homes, morgues grapple with surge in US Covid-19 deaths December 15, 2020 ... "As Covid-19 has spread from big cities to rural communities, it has stressed not only hospitals, but also what some euphemistically call “last responders.” The crush has overwhelmed morgues, funeral homes and religious leaders, required ingenuity and even changed the rituals of honoring the dead. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/15/health/funeral-homes-morgues-covid-deaths-wellness-partner Updated 7 Apr 2021 https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/i-just-ask-god-to-help-me-texas-funeral-home-crushed-by-death-as-us-covid-toll-nears-500000

WOW! Now that all the ardent anti-vaxers are up and around for the day, all their insight is coming to the fore! Per the OP report: Withholding vital information ... Distorting information ... Outright lying "Anti-vaccination social media campaigns spew outright lies to sow doubt and confusion about the vaccination process. ... When people are not properly informed, deciding whether or not to get vaccinated can be a scary decision. People are constantly exposed to lies about the vaccines online, including false claims that they alter DNA or lead to infertility. Of course, we know that billions of doses have been administered worldwide. That is a huge sample size, and the absence of any widespread serious side effects speaks to the vaccine’s safety." [emphasis added] CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/29/perspectives/covid-19-vaccine-anti-vaxxers-social-media-cults Right now, since some time has passed since this original report, the actual number of total COVID vaccine doses given in the world is something around 14 BILLION! https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cumulative-covid-vaccinations?country=~OWID_WRL Surely, if I were to believe half of what the various anti-vaxers here are claiming, we must all be dead by now... But, seems not. Life goes on, for the fortunate ones who didn't succumb to COVID, thanks in part to COVID vaccines. "They determined the number of lives lost if there had been no vaccines. Based on reported COVID‐19 deaths, vaccinations prevented an estimated 14.4 million deaths (95% credible interval [Crl] 13.7–15.9) from COVID‐19 in a year. However, if excess deaths were used, this estimate rose to 19.8 million (95% Crl 19.1–20.4) deaths prevented (Fig. 1), equating to a global reduction of 63% in total deaths (19.8 million of 31.4 million) during the first year of COVID‐19 vaccination. ... COVID‐19 vaccination altered the pandemic course, saving tens of millions of lives globally." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9537923/

WOW! That's a BIG mess, even by Bangkok construction standards!

It seems like the above reports are pretty typical about the way Thai media sources respond to these kinds of situations... The coverage is all about the response to the issue and what various authorities are doing after the fact. But not so much about what caused the mishap in the first place, because that would involve holding people / agencies responsible for what led to the original mishap occurring.

That's not what I'm reading as the primary / original issue in the above news report: "The sinkhole, measuring around 30 metres wide, 30 metres long and 50 metres deep, formed after a tunnel housing the Purple Line extension collapsed." This sounds more like this is the underground version of the Rama II elevated expressway project that keeps dropping blocks of concrete onto passing vehicles below and killing people nearby.

Serious adverse reactions to the mRNA COVID vaccines remain very rare for kids, pregnant women, and everyone else "The Vaccine Integrity Project is working with a team of experts who recently screened the most recent literature, consisting of more than 17,000 scientific abstracts; reviewed 1,406 full articles; and extracted detailed data from 590 studies published since the last CDC review of COVID, RSV and flu immunization literature. They found no new significantly elevated safety risks from US-licensed immunizations. You can watch the review presentations, which cover pediatric, pregnant, and immunocompromised populations, here. (Soon, you will also be able to access all of the abstracts that were reviewed.) [emphasis added] What’s more, CDC experts presented a review of the COVID vaccines’ safety profile, which covered 114 scientific papers, at the June ACIP meeting. It included information about eight statistical safety signals detected in monitoring systems but concluded that only one well-known concern—myocarditis, particularly in young adult males, which can be mitigated by spacing out the first two doses of the vaccine—was connected to vaccination. There was no clear or consistent evidence of safety concerns for the others (slide 21 in the presentation linked above). [emphasis added] ... The bottom line? The bar for limiting access to proven vaccines with good safety records needs to be high. Allowing it to be limited based on anecdote, whim, or flawed research is reckless and irresponsible and will put lives at risk." (more) Vaccine Integrity Project https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/vaccine-integrity-project/viewpoint-four-tips-understanding-week-s-acip-meeting "CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project [at the University of Minnesota] is an initiative dedicated to safeguarding vaccine use in the U.S. so that it remains grounded in the best available science, free from external influence, and focused on optimizing protection of individuals, families, and communities against vaccine-preventable diseases"

You definitely belong in this thread. Science Feedback is suspect??? " Founded in 2015, Health Feedback is a worldwide network of scientists sorting fact from fiction in health and medical media coverage. They state their goal is to help readers know which news to trust. They also provide feedback to editors about the credibility of information published in their outlets. Each reviewer holds a Ph.D. and has recently published articles in top-tier peer-reviewed science journals. Health Feedback is a project of the Science Feedback non-profit organization, annually certified by the International Fact Checking Network." https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/health-feedback/

The particular COVID virus was new, but it was preceded by the similar SARS and MERS outbreaks. SARS "Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus.[3] The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the syndrome caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.... SARS was a relatively rare disease; at the end of the epidemic in June 2003, the incidence was 8,422 cases with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 11%.[5] No cases of SARS-CoV-1 have been reported worldwide since 2004.[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS MERS "Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory infection caused by Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (MERS-CoV).[1] The first case was identified in June 2012 by Egyptian physician Ali Mohamed Zaki at the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and most cases have occurred in the Arabian Peninsula.[1][6] Over 2,600 cases have been reported as of January 2021, including 45 cases in the year 2020.[3] About 35% of those who are diagnosed with the disease die from it.[1] Larger outbreaks have occurred in South Korea in 2015 and in Saudi Arabia in 2018.[7][1] MERS-CoV is a virus in the coronavirus family believed to be originally from bats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MERS What Are Coronaviruses? "Coronaviruses are a large family of respiratory viruses that includes COVID-19, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Coronaviruses cause diseases in animals and humans. In humans, the viruses can cause mild respiratory infections, like the common cold, but can lead to serious illnesses, like pneumonia." https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/coronaviruses/