TallGuyJohninBKK

Previously reported in fuller form and detail here:

It's pretty pathetic when the two main appeals RFK Jr. has going for him are his longstanding fringe campaign against vaccinations, which is based on a documented history of blatant misinformation, and his having the Kennedy family name, where his own Kennedy relatives have politically disowned him. That's a candidate for U.S. president? Vaccine Misinformation: "this doesn't change the fact there are also countless examples of Mr Kennedy spreading conspiracy theories, making false or misleading statements, and sticking by his positions regardless of the evidence presented to the contrary. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-68447223 Kennedy Family: Kennedy family members call RFK Jr.’s independent bid ‘dangerous to our country’ 10/09/23 “The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third-party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country,” read a statement signed by four of Kennedy’s siblings — former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D), former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II (D-Mass.), Rory Kennedy and Kerry Kennedy. “Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country,” the statement continued. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4245980-kennedy-family-members-call-rfk-jr-s-independent-bid-dangerous-to-our-country/ AND (well before COVID, since his anti-vaccines stance isn't just limited to COVID vaccines) Kennedys pen op-ed refuting RFK Jr.’s ‘tragically wrong’ vaccine beliefs 05/08/19 Three relatives of Robert Kennedy Jr. lashed out at the son of the former senator, calling his anti-vaccination advocacy “wrong” and “dangerous” in an op-ed published Wednesday. ... The three warn that despite Kennedy Jr.’s valuable work on environmental advocacy, his speaking out against vaccinations, including a meeting with then-President-elect Trump to discuss “vaccine safety,” has helped spread “dangerous misinformation” about vaccines through social media. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/442647-rfk-jrs-family-writes-op-ed-openly-refuting-his-tragically-wrong-vaccine/

I spent about an hour hanging out at the arrivals area at Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok last weekend waiting to meet an incoming family member. Could have sworn I was actually in the arrivals area at Beijing airport, given the numbers / share of Chinese who were flowing out of the BKK arrivals area.

Simple trespassing is a more serious legal offense than physical assault in Thailand? That sounds like a pretty peculiar interpretation of the law.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2024-02-28-29/04-COVID-Link-Gelles-508.pdf

A new study has some worrying findings that suggest covid may have longer-term effects on cognition and memory — and that these lead to measurable differences in cognitive performance. The study, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that participants who recovered from covid symptoms had a cognitive deficit equivalent to three IQ points compared with those who were never infected, while participants suffering from unresolved covid symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more experienced a loss equivalent to six IQ points. But researchers also stressed that the greater cognitive decline associated with persistent symptoms may not be permanent, as participants in this category who had recovered by the time they took part in the study were found to have cognitive deficits comparable to those who recovered quickly. (more) https://archive.is/EWkOu https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330 Even fully recovered survivors of mild COVID can lose IQ points, study suggests The New England Journal of Medicine posted a study by Imperial College London researchers showing that COVID-19 patients recovering from short-term symptoms experienced similar small deficits in memory, thinking, or concentrating ("brain fog") as those who had longer-term symptoms. The investigators calculated a global cognitive score across eight tasks using online self-reports of cognitive function among 112,964 adults participating in a study in England. They compared the results of COVID-19 survivors with those of their uninfected counterparts. ... Virus strain, infection severity A multiple regression analysis showed that COVID-19 survivors whose symptoms had resolved in less than 4 weeks or at least 12 weeks had comparable small deficits in cognitive function—or the ability to think—compared with uninfected participants (−0.23 and −0.24 standard deviations [SD], respectively). COVID-19 survivors demonstrated greater deficits than uninfected controls (−0.42 SD). (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/even-fully-recovered-survivors-mild-covid-can-lose-iq-points-study-suggests

Monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine shows 51% protection against COVID hospitalization A new interim estimate of vaccine effectiveness (VE) of the monovalent (single-strain) XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccine shows the shot was 51% effective in preventing emergency department and urgent care visits among adults without compromised immune systems. ... Compared to adults who did not receive the monovalent XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccine, recipients were most protected in the first 7 to 59 days after vaccination, with VE dropping slightly 60 to 119 days after an updated dose. ... In both networks combined, VE against COVID-19–associated emergency department or urgent care visits among all adults was 51% ... during the first 7 to 59 days after an updated dose and 39% ... 60 to 119 days after vaccination. VE against COVID-19–associated hospitalization was 52% ... and 43% ... respectively. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/monovalent-xbb15-vaccine-shows-51-protection-against-covid-hospitalization Interim Effectiveness of Updated 2023–2024 (Monovalent XBB.1.5) COVID-19 Vaccines Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalization Among Immunocompetent Adults Aged ≥18 Years — VISION and IVY Networks, September 2023–January 2024 February 29, 2024 What is added by this report? Receipt of an updated COVID-19 vaccine dose provided increased protection against COVID-19–associated emergency department and urgent care encounters and hospitalization compared with no receipt of an updated vaccine dose among immunocompetent U.S. adults during a period of multiple cocirculating SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages. What are the implications for public health practice? These findings support CDC recommendations for updated 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccination. All persons aged ≥6 months should receive updated 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccine. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7308a5.htm

XBB.1.5 vaccine safe in older adults In a research letter published in JAMA earlier this week, a nationwide cohort study of more than 1 million Danish adults aged 65 years and older showed no increased risk of 28 adverse events following vaccination with the monovalent XBB.1.5-containing COVID vaccine. In Denmark, the XBB.1.5-containing vaccines were recommended as a fifth COVID-19 vaccine dose to people aged 65 years and older, with vaccination beginning October 1, 2023. Using a nationwide database of 1,076,531 people (mean age, 74.7 years; 53.8% female), of whom 902 ,803 received an XBB.1.5 vaccine as a fifth dose, the authors found no significant association between the vaccine and adverse events. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/monovalent-xbb15-vaccine-shows-51-protection-against-covid-hospitalization https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2815787

Why Older Adults Need Another COVID-19 Shot February 29, 2024 Older adults should get the COVID-19 vaccine more frequently than previously recommended, according to new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Health officials are urging people ages 65 and older to receive another vaccine dose in the spring, or at least four months after their most recent dose. CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen announced the decision after a CDC advisory committee, which is made up of independent vaccine and infectious disease experts, voted 11-1 to make the change. “An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection that may have decreased over time for those at highest risk,” she said in a statement. The decision is based on data presented by CDC scientists that showed current hospitalization rates for COVID-19 are highest among seniors, with the biggest spikes occurring among those 75 years and older. People 65 and older account for 67% of hospitalizations due to COVID-19. (The CDC previously recommended that most people get a COVID-19 vaccine once a year. ) (more) https://time.com/6836390/older-adults-covid-19-vaccine-2024/

It looks like the National Health Service in the U.K. also will be running an XBB-focused COVID vaccines campaign this spring for older residents, but with a higher minimum age than the U.S.: Preparing for a successful spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination campaign Date published: 21 February, 2024 Eligible cohorts in spring 2024 adults aged 75 years and over residents in care homes for older adults individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed (as defined in the Green Book, chapter 14a; tables 3 and 4) "This includes those who turn 75 years old by 30 June 2024. These people will be eligible for a vaccination at any point in the campaign. People who are admitted to an older adult care home or become immunosuppressed by 30 June are also eligible." ... Campaign start and end dates "Visits to older adult care homes and eligible housebound patients should begin 15 April 2024. For all other eligible cohorts, vaccinations should start by 22 April 2024 and end on 30 June 2024." Supply and deliveries "We will be using XBB.1.5 vaccines throughout the spring 2024 campaign, as deployed in the Autumn 2023. non-mRNA vaccines will not be supplied in the NHS programme." https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/preparing-for-a-successful-spring-2024-covid-19-vaccination-campaign/

From the CDC yesterday: "Adults 65 years and older are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, with more than half of COVID-19 hospitalizations during October 2023 to December 2023 occurring in this age group." “Today’s recommendation allows older adults to receive an additional dose of this season’s COVID-19 vaccine to provide added protection,” said [CDC Director] Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H. “Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older. An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection that may have decreased over time for those at highest risk.” https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-0228-covid.html

fyi, forum health moderator @Sheryl has lately identified a government hospital travel clinic in Bangkok as being a confirmed source of the newer monovalent, XBB-targeted COVID vaccines from Pfizer. I've also confirmed the details with them, and will be doing a separate thread on the subject here shortly. The only catch is, unlike prior no-cost government COVID vaccine offerings, the travel clinic COVID vaccine requires payment that all-in should come to about 2,500 baht per dose. But the good news is they're making the newer Pfizer vaccine available to all foreigners, both resident expats and also foreign tourists. (FWIW, Thais are being required to pay there also as well.) The beginning of the discussion of this is located in the following thread below. But as I mentioned above, I'll also soon be doing a separate, standalone thread on the subject.

Vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that people ages 65 and older receive an additional dose of the current monovalent (single-strain) COVID-19 vaccine this spring. The vote from the Advisory Committee on Immunization (ACIP) targets a group at higher risk for COVID-19 hospitalization and death. Immunity is known to wane following vaccination as well as infection, and it's been almost 6 months since the CDC weighed in with its last advice, which was that people ages 6 months and older receive the updated COVID vaccine targeting the XBB.1.5 variant. Though COVID activity is currently trending downward in the United States, experts said it's likely that virus circulation will likely continue at significant levels in the months ahead. ACIP made similar spring booster recommendations in 2022 and 2023. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cdc-advisers-recommend-spring-covid-booster-seniors Older Adults Now Able to Receive Additional Dose of Updated COVID-19 Vaccine For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 28, 2024 Today, CDC Director Mandy Cohen endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation for adults ages 65 years and older to receive an additional updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine dose. The recommendation acknowledges the increased risk of severe disease from COVID-19 in older adults, along with the currently available data on vaccine effectiveness. Previous CDC recommendations ensured that people who are immunocompromised are already eligible for additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Data continues to show the importance of vaccination to protect those most at risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19. An additional dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine may restore protection that has waned since a fall vaccine dose, providing increased protection to adults ages 65 years and older. Adults 65 years and older are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, with more than half of COVID-19 hospitalizations during October 2023 to December 2023 occurring in this age group. (more) https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-0228-covid.html

AFAIK, the only place where vaccine-related serious blood clotting was a very RARE problem was with the AZ vaccine (and with the similar, little used J&J vaccine in the U.S.) ... and generally not with the mRNA vaccines. That's part of the reason why the AZ vaccine was never approved in the U.S., and ultimately ceased to be used in places like the U.K. -- while use of the mRNA vaccines continued apace. There is no evidence that mRNA vaccines are linked to blood clots By Reuters Fact Check August 27, 2021 https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-mrna-clots/fact-check-there-is-no-evidence-that-mrna-vaccines-are-linked-to-blood-clots-idUSL1N2PY1K2/ https://health-desk.org/articles/there-s-no-evidence-that-mrna-vaccines-are-linked-to-blood-clots "the mRNA vaccines have not been associated with any kind of clotting problem." "in fact, evidence suggests COVID-19 vaccination prevents blood clots by protecting against COVID-19, which raises the risk of clotting." https://www.factcheck.org/2022/03/scicheck-post-misconstrues-public-health-awareness-campaigns-about-blood-clots/

fyi, I sent the following email query to the Mahidol Clinic on Wednesday, and got the subsequent reply: Q. I am asking is the XBB COVID vaccine available from your clinic for RESIDENT foreigners who live here in Thailand long-term? Though you could also let me know if the same vaccine is or isn't available from your clinic for visiting foreign tourists? A. Yes, we also provide the vaccine for expats or foreigners as well.

Sorry, no! Funding statement "Funding was provided by the BC Ministry of Health, Alberta Health and Wellness, Public Health Ontario, the Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the view of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Funders had no role in data analysis, interpretation or the decision to publish." https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.7.2400076

The fall COVID-19 vaccine cut the risk of COVID-19 illness by about half for people who’d never caught the virus before, and by 67 per cent for those with a previous infection, according to new research from the Canadian network that has long tracked the performance of the annual flu shot. This is the first time the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network, which is comprised of hundreds of primary care providers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, produced mid-season estimates of the effectiveness of immunization against COVID-19. For people with hybrid immunity against COVID-19 – meaning they’ve had a jab and an infection – the shot targeting the Omicron XBB.1.5 variant performed slightly better against COVID-19 than the flu shot did against influenza. (more) https://archive.is/RjF6a#selection-2499.0-2515.226 https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/canadian-data-show-moderate-good-vaccine-efficacy-against-covid-flu https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.7.2400076 "The updated autumn 2023 monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine protected comparably well, reducing the risk of medically attended COVID-19 by about half overall, and by about two-thirds among previously infected individuals. Ongoing VE monitoring with increased time since vaccination and evolution in variant contribution is warranted."

A new study based on 4,605 participants in the Michigan COVID-19 Recovery Surveillance Study shows that the prevalence of long COVID symptoms at 30 and 90 days post-infection was 43% to 58% lower among adults who were fully vaccinated before infection. ... The 30- and 90-day timeframes were meant to compare two different definitions of long COVID. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines the condition as new or persistent symptoms 4 weeks after infection, while the World Health Organization definition defines it as 12 or more weeks after infection. ... Overall, 32.2% of adults with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 reported 30-day long COVID and 17.5% reported 90-day long COVID in the study. The prevalence of 30-day long COVID was 43% lower among the vaccinated group... The adjusted prevalence of 90-day long COVID was 58% lower among the vaccinated group. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-shows-43-58-lower-prevalence-long-covid-among-vaccinated-people https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1047279724000310

The combined effect of respiratory viruses, COVID, flu, and RSV on the U.S. and U.K. hospital systems was lower this winter compared to the prior year, despite an outsized impact from COVID, data analytics firm Airfinity said in a recent report. Citing data from the CDC, the London-based company said that U.S. hospitalizations linked to all three viruses dropped ~23% to 693K from October 2023 to February 2024 compared to the previous winter. Meanwhile, in the U.K., there was a similar pattern, as ‘tripledemic’ hospitalizations fell 36% to 109K. COVID-19 was the reason for most hospitalizations in the U.S. and U.K., as that virus led to the largest contribution to the ‘tripledemic’ burden in both countries, Airfinity added. (more) https://seekingalpha.com/news/4072482-tripledemic-burden-lower-winter-covid-impact

A Los Angeles police officer who was fired in 2022 after challenging the city’s COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandate is entitled to back pay but should not get her job restored, an L.A. County judge has ruled. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff said police department officials denied the former officer, Natalie Stringer, her right to respond to allegations prior to a disciplinary meeting, but the city did not violate labor laws and acted within its rights when she was terminated based on her “failure to comply with a valid condition of employment.” Beckloff made similar findings in the cases of several other police officers and firefighters who were terminated over their vaccination status, the latest rebuff of challenges to the city’s coronavirus protocols. (more) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-28/judge-lapd-officers-fired-over-covid-vaccine-dispute-wont-get-jobs-back

More than a year after catching COVID-19, Sawyer Blatz still can’t practice his weekly rituals: running for miles in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park or biking around his adopted hometown. In many ways, the pandemic isn’t over for the 27-year-old and millions of other Americans. It may never be. They have long COVID, a condition characterized by any combination of 200 different lingering symptoms, some of which, like loss of taste and smell are familiar from initial infections and some totally alien, like the utter exhaustion that makes it impossible for Blatz to walk much more than a block. ... Federal estimates suggest at least 16 million Americans have long COVID and maybe 4 million of them, like Blatz, who contracted his only COVID infection in November 2022, are disabled by it. (more) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/02/26/long-covid-treatments-out-of-reach/72690587007/

But is it available to foreigners? On an adjoining webpage, they have the following [perhaps obsolete] message from May 2022: "Right now, we do not offer COVID vaccine for foreigners in our clinic." https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/blog/travel-medicine-issue/covidvaccine-foreigner.html

Ahh... looks like they ARE advertising the newer version! Doctor fee (200 Baht), Hospital fee (100 Baht), Vaccine admisitration fee (20 Baht), Registration fee (20baht, only in the first visit) are not included in price list. https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/cost.html But is it available to foreigners? On an adjoining webpage, they have the following message from May 2022: "Right now, we do not offer COVID vaccine for foreigners in our clinic." https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/blog/travel-medicine-issue/covidvaccine-foreigner.html

Sheryl, just to be clear, do you mean the travel clinic has the newer, monovalent COVID vaccine versions aimed at the XBB variants? Or, do you mean they have the prior, and now largely discontinued bivalent vaccines (prior generation)? The same ones the BMA continues to dispense lately in Bangkok...

Let's also not forget, dear Mr. Comer, that the charges against informant Smirnov were filed not by the FBI but by former President Donald Trump appointed U.S. attorney / now special Counsel David Weiss. Comer's trying to salvage some political cover out of this whole MAGA inspired fraud blowing up in their faces. Former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ role in Ukraine business, undercutting GOP impeachment inquiry (CNN) -- Special counsel David Weiss charged a former FBI informant with lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s involvement in business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, undercutting a major aspect of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into the president. ... The indictment alleges that Smirnov’s story to the FBI “was a fabrication, an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts that had actually occurred but at a later date than he claimed and for the purpose of pitching Burisma on the Defendant’s services and products, not for discussing bribes to [Joe Biden] when he was in office.” Congressional Republicans have championed Smirnov’s now-discredited allegations for roughly a year, though not by name. ...The congressional Republicans repeatedly praised Smirnov as “credible” and put his uncorroborated claims front-and-center in their impeachment inquiry into the president." https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/15/politics/former-fbi-informant-charged-biden-burisma/index.html