TallGuyJohninBKK

More unsourced and false nonsense: Hospital COVID payments tied to patient treatment, not deaths March 10, 2023 CLAIM: U.S. hospitals are earning a $48,000 government subsidy for every patient that dies from COVID-19 in their care. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Hospital industry officials and public health experts confirm the federal government provides hospitals with enhanced payments for treating COVID-19 patients, but the payments are only currently applicable to those on Medicare. The enhanced payments, which are slated to end in May, also aren’t contingent on a patient’s death but on the treatment or services provided to the patient, they said. [emphasis added] https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-pandemic-hospitals-medicare-157398144949

"One study from October 2020 calculated that the virus had stolen 2.5 million years of potential life in the US. Just under half of these years were taken from people younger than 65 years. As the paper’s author, Dr. Stephen J. Elledge said, “COVID-19 has wiped out millions of years of productive, active, and happy existence.” Another study from May 2022 calculated the virus had stolen 3.9 million years of life away from Americans and the average COVID victim lost over 9 years of life. Not all COVID victims were 90-year-olds with advanced cancer, only days away from dying, when they happened to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 as some doctors implied. In the words of Dr. Utibe Essien: These are everyday people who are dying. They’re losing time with their kids, their grandkids, their opportunities to build their futures." https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/this-thing-has-killed-less-than-or-about-as-many-as-flu-would-kill-in-a-normal-year-in-kids-i-say-hardly-any-80-year-olds-their-time-to-death-in-general-is-not-that-long/

You're repeating a falsehood that's already been debunked in two graphics I previously posted in this thread above from the U.S. government: Of all reported COVID deaths in the U.S. thus far in 2025, at least two third had COVID as the underlying / main cause. If you go back to the entire duration of the pandemic, that share rises to 87%:

Dr. Fauci was never part of the U.S. CDC in any capacity... But I understand you don't want to let facts get in the way of your claims... https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/anthony-s-fauci-md

You're trolling out the well-worn anti-vaxer arguments about prospective long term side effects, whereas in fact, a long history of vaccines show that any side effects that do surface typically happen in the very short term post-vaccination. We're now 4+ years into the global COVID vaccination regimen, and it's very likely that anything that might surface has already surfaced. As for children being vaccinated, especially the very young, the reason is that their immune systems are still developing, and aren't as protective as they'll be later in life. So the COVID vaccines give protection to the very young who also haven't been previously exposed to COVID and thus haven't had any immunity from prior infection. Listen to the pediatricians: New FDA framework on Covid vaccines leaves pediatricians confused and concerned May 20, 2025 ... "The possibility that Covid shots would become unavailable for kids alarmed pediatricians. “I see children admitted to the hospital with Covid and they’re not all high-risk children — including those who go to intensive care units,” said James Campbell, a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Maryland. “If we have safe and effective vaccines that prevent illness, we think they should be available.” [emphasis added] ... Making sure children have immunity through early vaccination is something many physicians support, however, especially because most infants have not been exposed to the virus. “I think there is strong data to suggest Covid should be part of routine childhood vaccinations,” said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “We vaccinate kids for things that have less morbidity and mortality than Covid, like chickenpox for example.” Emergency physician Jeremy Faust of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who hosted his own livestream to discuss the new framework as soon as it was released, said it was critical to make sure “immune-naive” infants 6 months and older receive the vaccine." (more) https://archive.ph/d6faP

The U.S. CDC would say you're wrong: Per the U.S. CDC, the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization from COVID in seniors age 65 and above by 45-46%, compared with all seniors who had NOT received the 2024-2025 vaccine. "During September 24, 2023–August 11, 2024, approximately 800,000 COVID-19–associated hospitalizations occurred in the United States (1); adults aged ≥65 years accounted for 70% of these hospitalizations." "COVID-19 vaccination averted approximately 68,000 hospitalizations during the 2023–24 respiratory season." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7406a1.htm

Strangely enough, most of the same good habits that help protect people from COVID also help protect them from the flu, given that they're both viral infections: --getting vaccinated --wearing a quality face mask when close around others --practicing good hand hygiene --keeping in good general health etc etc etc.

Meanwhile, from elsewhere in the forum relating to COVID and the flu in Thailand:

Unlike you, everything I post here is sourced to credible sources and includes the supporting weblinks for the info. None of my sources are those with long histories of COVID misinformation or unknown social media types trolling the gutters of the internet.

COVID has killed far more Americans annually in recent years than has the flu, as the chart below clearly shows: https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/illness-severity.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/illness-severity.htm But the numbers have been getting closer in 2025, as this was a very bad year for the flu in the U.S., and COVID thus far in 2025 has been comparatively mild compared to recent years. The CDC says the U.S. had between 6,300 – 52,000 flu deaths annually between 2011 and 2024. If you add all those years together, the total for flu is still going to be far less -- less than half by my quick count -- compared to the 1.2 million U.S. COVID deaths only since 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/flu-burden/php/about/index.html

Except you're wrong, as the CDC chart for 2025 below shows: At least 67% of the reported COVID deaths in the U.S. thus far this year had COVID as the underlying [main] cause. Only the remaining one-third had COVID as a contributing cause. But hey, keep making up stuff as you go along...

The U.S. CDC reported last fall that receiving the 2023-2024 COVID vaccine reduced the risk of COVID critical illness [defined as ICU admission or death] in adults age 18 and above by: --67% during the first two months post vaccination --56% during months three and four post vaccination, and by --40% during months five and six post vaccination. I'll take those odds, thank you!

Most significant drugs in the U.S. are by doctor's prescription only. That's the way the U.S. medical system works, now and in the past. Thailand is a bit looser in that regard, in that you can obtain things like routine antibiotics here without a doctor's prescription. But still, a lot of the more serious medications also are only available here with a doctor's order at hospital pharmacies. And some of the more advanced medicines may not yet be available here at all....

One important point here is that many of those U.S. seniors dying from COVID don't have to be dying, if more had been vaccinated: Per the U.S. CDC, the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization from COVID in seniors age 65 and above by 45-46%, compared with all seniors who had NOT received the 2024-2025 vaccine. "During September 24, 2023–August 11, 2024, approximately 800,000 COVID-19–associated hospitalizations occurred in the United States (1); adults aged ≥65 years accounted for 70% of these hospitalizations." "COVID-19 vaccination averted approximately 68,000 hospitalizations during the 2023–24 respiratory season." " Among immunocompetent adults aged ≥65 years from two CDC networks, VE [vaccine effectiveness] estimates against COVID-19–associated hospitalization were 45% (95% CI = 36%–53%) and 46% (95% CI = 26%–60%) during the first 7–119 days after vaccination." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7406a1.htm

I believe so, but can't say for certain. And if it is, it's probably going to be quite expensive here and available at limited locations: Just as one example, one post from the following broader thread: Thailand-approved Paxlovid cuts Covid death rate by 70%: medic THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022 https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40023095

And there's also this: A Majority Of Americans Have No Or Low Awareness Of Paxlovid, The At-Home COVID-19 Treatment September 25, 2024 "Oral Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir-ritonavir) is highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19, yet it has been remarkably underused, even by patients at highest risk from COVID-19, since its December 2021 introduction in the US. ... To examine public awareness and perceptions of Paxlovid that might help explain its underuse, we conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,430 US adults in July 2023. A majority of respondents (85 percent) had no or low awareness of Paxlovid, including 31 percent who had never heard of it. Even among those who were aware of the drug, many held misperceptions about its effectiveness (39 percent), adverse effects (86 percent), and requisite timing (61 percent) that could lead to underuse. Lower awareness and misperceptions were more common among medically vulnerable and disadvantaged populations who might benefit most from Paxlovid access, including adults unvaccinated against COVID-19, those with lower levels of education, and Black and Hispanic or Latino adults." (more) Health Affairs https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.01641

Not worth talking about a medication that has been shown to have no benefit in treating COVID infections, and is not on most governments' lists, including the U.S. and the U.K., of approved drugs for COVID treatment. Here's what the ABC News report was referencing: Not accessing COVID treatments "Currently, there are treatments for COVID-19 patients in the form of antiviral pills, including molnupiravir from Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Paxlovid from Pfizer. Both treatments must be started within five days of COVID symptoms appearing and are given twice daily for five days, with Merck's being four pills each time and Pfizer's being three pills each. There is also remdesivir, an intravenous medication that must be started within seven days of COVID symptoms appearing." https://abcnews.go.com/Health/300-people-us-dying-covid-week/story?id=122068959 A big problem with the two antiviral pills above is that by the time people realize they're sick, get tested to confirm they have COVID, and then see a private doctor to obtain a prescription under the U.S. medical care system, the "within 5 days of symptoms" deadline may well have already passed.

According to recent CDC data, less than half of Americans age 65 and above had received the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine update, even though those ages account for some 90% of recent U.S. COVID deaths: "As of December 14, 2024, about 49% of adults 75 years and older had received one dose of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine, compared with about 30% around the same time last year. Similarly, as of December 14, 2024, about 40% of adults 65–74 years had received one dose of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine, compared with about 31% around the same time last year." ... "The risk of death from COVID-19 for adults ages 75 years to 84 years old is about 140 times higher than for adults ages 18–29." CDC - Dec. 26, 2024 https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-vaccination-rates-among-older-adults-are-up-from-last-season.html

Cumulative since the start of the pandemic: 2025 only through May 17: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

Experts say there is low vaccine uptake and people are not accessing treatments May 24, 2025 More than five years after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in the United States, hundreds of people are still dying every week. Last month, an average of about 350 people died each week from COVID, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ... Public health experts told ABC News that although the U.S. is in a much better place than it was a few years ago, COVID is still a threat to high-risk groups. "The fact that we're still seeing deaths just means it's still circulating, and people are still catching it," Dr. Tony Moody, a professor in the department of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University Medical Center, told ABC News. The experts said there are a few reasons why people might still be dying from the virus, including low vaccination uptake, waning immunity and not enough people accessing treatments. (more) https://abcnews.go.com/Health/300-people-us-dying-covid-week/story?id=122068959 "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that adults 65 and older now account for 68 percent of all covid-associated hospitalizations and, between September 2023 and August 2024, nearly 90 percent of all deaths." Washington Post https://archive.ph/jXGQo#selection-527.130-535.15

Likewise from the Associated Press: Trump turns a COVID information website into a promotion page for the lab leak theory April 19, 2025 ... "The origins of COVID have never been proven. Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insufficient evidence to prove either theory. [emphasis added] ... About 325 Americans have died from COVID per week on average over the past four weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of April 5, less than a quarter of adults in the U.S. have gotten an updated COVID vaccine. Millions worldwide have had long COVID, with dozens of widely varying symptoms, including fatigue and brain fog. https://apnews.com/article/trump-covid-origin-lab-leak-fauci-c8767c1e2c5698c845059ab7f0534ff7

Well, one current government (the U.S.'s Trump Administration) certainly has been lying about the origins of COVID, in terms of making definitive claims of lab leak origins that aren't supported by actual facts that definitively prove the origin: Trump Administration Incorrectly Claims Certainty About Origin of Coronavirus May 23, 2025 "Since regaining power, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed with false certainty that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a lab. In late January, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that a lab leak is “the confirmable truth.” In mid-April, covid.gov and covidtests.gov, websites the government previously used to educate the public about the disease and allow people to place orders for free tests, redirected to a new, splashy White House webpage that declared a lab leak the “true origins” of COVID-19. ... Joel Wertheim, a professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego who has published research on how the pandemic began, told us the website is “untrue.” As we’ve explained before, the origin of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is unknown. Multiple lines of scientific evidence, however, point to a natural origin, with the virus spilling over into humans from animals through the illegal wildlife trade in China. That is similar to what has happened in the past, including in the early 2000s with SARS, when a similar coronavirus caused a respiratory disease outbreak that began in China. [emphasis added] (more) https://www.factcheck.org/2025/05/trump-administration-incorrectly-claims-certainty-about-origin-of-coronavirus/

How do we know these vaccines are safe, especially in the long term? "Hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. have gotten mRNA vaccines, and billions of doses have been administered worldwide. That has allowed researchers to scour for side effects too rare to show up in a 30,000-person clinical trial, or that might appear after more than a few months. “The number of people that could be evaluated for the vaccine and [adverse] reactions was enormous, much larger than we’ve ever been able to do,” said Kathryn Edwards, scientific director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program. ... That was how researchers first saw hints that mRNA Covid-19 vaccines were linked with a slightly increased risk of inflamed heart muscle, or myocarditis, in younger adults, particularly young men. A 2022 study reported that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines led to an additional 22 and 31 myocarditis cases, respectively, for every million 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. Most of these rare cases were mild and didn’t cause more than brief chest pain. By comparison, SARS-CoV-2 infection causes myocarditis at much higher rates than vaccination, with the CDC reporting 150 cases per 100,000 Covid-19 patients. [emphasis added] (more) STAT (STAT delivers trusted and authoritative journalism about health, medicine, and the life sciences) https://archive.ph/fTkmP

What we know about the safety, efficacy of mRNA vaccines amid recent scrutiny Vaccines using mRNA technology have been studied for decades, experts say. May 23, 2025 ... "The FDA, in asking the vaccine companies to expand their warning labels, cited “new safety information” -- data from one of the agency’s safety surveillance systems and a study published in October that followed people who developed myocarditis linked to COVID vaccines. [Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco] said the risk of myocarditis is much higher after COVID-19 compared to after vaccination, and that contracting COVID itself is higher. “The risk of COVID is much higher in general. If you look at it, 22 to 31 cases per million [among] 18 to 29 years old as an example,” he said. “At the time when these vaccines are used very often in that group, [myocarditis risk] is 1,500 per million. So, you're talking about 22 to 31 per million versus 1,500 per million.” [emphasis added] https://abcnews.go.com/Health/safety-efficacy-mrna-vaccines-amid-recent-scrutiny/story?id=122068940

Myocarditis complications more common after COVID infection than vaccination, 18-month data suggest August 27, 2024 A study today in JAMA suggests that hospitalized patients—primarily previously healthy young men—have considerably fewer cardiovascular sequelae by 18 months if they develop myocarditis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination than after COVID-19 infection. French researchers mined data from the French National Health Data System on all 4,635 residents aged 12 to 49 years hospitalized for myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, from December 2020 to June 2022. ... Low rates of myocarditis after vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been reported, mainly in young adults after receipt of their second dose, the vast majority with a favorable outcome. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/myocarditis-complications-more-common-after-covid-infection-vaccination-18-month-data