TallGuyJohninBKK

Vax rates in the U.S. for the newer, monovalent COVID vaccines are inching upward, as per the latest survey data from the CDC: "The percent of the population reporting receipt of the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine is --11.0% (95% confidence interval: 10.1-11.8) for children and --21.5% (20.8-22.1) for adults 18+, --including 40.9% (39.2-42.7) among adults age 65+. Reported on Friday, January 19th, 2024" https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-adults.html

There's a reason they have/do: As Covid-19 hospitalizations climb, rates among seniors and children raise concern September 22, 2023 "But a new analysis of federal data from the American Academy of Pediatrics showed hospital admissions among children are rising faster than average. Nearly 1,200 children were admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 during the week ending September 9, marking a five-fold increase over the past three months. ... Admissions among children remain below previous pandemic peaks. There were about 1,800 new pediatric admissions in a week at the height of last winter’s wave, and more than 6,500 weekly admissions during Omicron, the AAP analysis shows. Children accounted for 6% of all Covid-19 hospital admissions during the week ending September 9, federal data shows. And children under 5 were the most at risk, with about half of all pediatric Covid-19 hospitalizations among those younger than 5, according to the AAP analysis." https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/health/covid-hospitalizations-seniors-kids-vaccines/index.html

Yes, and presumably that posted info is correct... the driver has been vaccinated... It's not making any claim as to what is the result of that... Although, science continues to be clear that people who are UP-TO-DATE on their vaccinations have lower risks of death and serious illness from COVID...

This is what the US FDA said in December 2020 when granting its first emergency use authorization for the original Pfizer COVID vaccine against the original version of the coronavirus... and it's a whole lot more reserved than the posted claims above. Don't see them saying the vaccine would "stop the virus." FDA Evaluation of Available Effectiveness Data ... "The vaccine was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 disease among these clinical trial participants with eight COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group and 162 in the placebo group. Of these 170 COVID-19 cases, one in the vaccine group and three in the placebo group were classified as severe. At this time, data are not available to make a determination about how long the vaccine will provide protection, nor is there evidence that the vaccine prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from person to person." [emphasis added] https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-key-action-fight-against-covid-19-issuing-emergency-use-authorization-first-covid-19 Now, later as the pandemic evolved, with earlier variants, the science clearly showed that COVID vaccination DID, especially in the months post vaccination, significantly reduce (not prevent) the risks of becoming infected. As as the virus continued mutating and become better at evading the then current vaccines, that protection against infection waned, and it also waned once people got many months or years past their latest vaccination.

Yes, public officials at times mis-speak, and typically, those errors end up getting corrected, as they should... As with the following example from relatively early in the pandemic: Researchers pushed back after the C.D.C. director asserted that vaccinated people “do not carry the virus.” April 1, 2021 "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday walked back controversial comments made by its director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, suggesting that people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus never become infected or transmit the virus to others. ... “Dr. Walensky spoke broadly during this interview,” an agency spokesman told The Times. “It’s possible that some people who are fully vaccinated could get Covid-19. The evidence isn’t clear whether they can spread the virus to others. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence.” The agency was responding in part to criticism from scientists who noted that current research was far from sufficient to claim that vaccinated people cannot spread the virus." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/health/coronavirus-vaccine-walensky.html The circumstances of COVID and its continuing mutations / variants has been a moving target since the beginning. The Omicron effect Omicron was quickly identified as being significantly more transmissible than Delta, the preceding variant of concern. Within 4 weeks, as the Omicron wave travelled around the world, it replaced Delta as the dominant variant. Countries which had so far been successful in keeping COVID-19 at bay through public health and social measures now found themselves struggling. For individuals, the greatest price was paid by those who were at risk of severe disease but not vaccinated, and we saw hospitalizations and deaths rise in a number of places around the world." https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/one-year-since-the-emergence-of-omicron

Much better thus far today: https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/bangkok/chulalongkorn-hospital/#/z/12

It's a typical take by the right-wing Heritage Foundation outlet. Yes, there were times when public officials mis-spoke and the public health guidance changed over time. But what that fails to reflect is that what science knew and understood about the coronavirus changed over time, both because it was an entirely new variant where a lot was simply unknown at the beginning, and because the original variant and its attributes then significantly changed over time. Lying is when you know something to be the case and knowingly say the opposite or something different. it's not lying to change your guidance or recommendations over time as the known facts and circumstances change.

Air readings Tuesday night VERY BAD in Bangkok... Smog season was a bit late in arriving this year: https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/bangkok/chulalongkorn-hospital/

The latest scientific data on COVID vaccines continue to show that people who are UP-TO-DATE on their COVID vaccinations (which is defined as having had at least 3 shots, including last year's bivalent booster shot) have lower rates of either being hospitalized from COVID or dying from it... vs. the unvaccinated. On the other hand, people who had only the original standard two vaccinations or fewer several years ago now -- at this point are said to have much less protection against COVID hospitalization and death... And some studies I've seen suggest that those long ago vaccinated folks at this point are little different than being unvaccinated. Just like having had a flu vaccine shot two or three years ago is going to do little if anything to protect a person from the current year's (ever mutating) flu virus... Which is why there are newly formulated flu vaccines each year... just like there are periodically reformulated COVID vaccines. People have to stay current with their vaccinations if they want to have optimal continuing protection. It's not a one (or two) and done deal, in either case. https://healthpolicy-watch.news/fda-chief-warns-us-immunity-is-at-risk-as-more-people-decline-vaccinations/

The WHO is just out with their latest status report on COVID globally. And while they do report data on total cases and deaths for their past month period, December 11 to January 7, the overall reported global numbers are increasingly meaningless as more and more countries cease regularly reporting key data. However, with this latest monthly update, perhaps in part because of the above, the WHO has begun calling out separate charts on the numbers of countries that are regularly and consistently reporting 1) new COVID hospitalizations (22 countries) and 2) new COVID ICU admissions (18), to give a sense of those comparable trends. Thailand is not on either list, because Thailand has never regularly reported new COVID ICU admissions, and although Thailand does report new COVID hospitalization numbers each week, for some reason, those end up being reported in the WHO's reports as new "cases" instead of new hospitalizations. From the report: "The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (15 079 new cases; 1.1 new cases per 100 000; +843%), Indonesia (8610 new cases; 3.1 new cases per 100 000; +399%), and Thailand (2327 new cases; 3.3 new cases per 100 000; +17%)." [That total roughly equates to a month's worth of Thailand's new COVID hospitalizations reports.] Nonetheless, several neighboring SE Asian countries (along with a few others) that do report such data are showing up on either the new COVID hospitalizations and/or new COVID ICU admissions lists with significant increases for the early December to early January periods vs the month prior period, as I've highlighted in YELLOW on the charts below. New COVID hospitalizations "Among the 22 countries consistently reporting new hospitalizations, 8 (36%) countries registered an increase of 20% or greater in hospitalizations during the past 28 days compared to the previous 28-day period: Indonesia (1337 vs 149; +797%), Malta (79 vs 21; +276%), Brunei Darussalam (588 vs 161; +265%), Malaysia (9312 vs 4137; +125%), Greece (6366 vs 3792; +68%), Singapore (2619 vs 1719; +52%), United Sates of America (128 073 vs 84 981; +51%), and Ireland (1353 vs 967; +40%)." New COVID ICU admissions "Among the 18 countries consistently reporting new ICU admissions, eight (44%) countries showed an increase of 20% or greater in new ICU admissions during the past 28 days compared to the previous 28-day period: Indonesia (164 vs 18; +811%), Malaysia (135 vs 15; +800%), Singapore (77 vs 38; +103%), Estonia (18 vs 10; +80%), Ireland (20 vs 13; +54%), Netherlands (120 vs 86; +40%), Greece (120 vs 88; +36%), and Czechia (182 vs 146; +25%)" https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/covid-19-epidemiological-update---19-january-2024

The U.S. has its version of tossers as well:

That's what I thought too... looking at the OP photo... It may be kinda the same thing as the Thai habit of referring to dumpy old apartment buildings as "mansions".

Unfortunately, the above ThaiPBS World article contains several noteworthy factual errors, as follows: --The report of 11 new COVID deaths last week is up from 7 the prior week, not 4. Four was the count from two weeks prior. Dec. 31 to Jan. 6: Source link: Jan. 7 - 13: Source link Jan. 14 - 20: Source link: Also, not sure where they're getting their 12.9% increase in hospitalizations calculation from. By my count/math, the increase from 625 new hospitalizations two weeks ago to 718 last week is an increase of 14.9%. --also, the 11 new reported COVID deaths are not just among the 718 new COVID hospitalizations from last week as the article states, but instead, among the much larger pool of ongoing COVID hospitalizations, which the MOPH does not publicly report a weekly count for. --Likewise, the counts of serious condition/pneumonia symptom COVID cases and those requiring ventilators are not just among the 718 new COVID hospitalizations from last week, but again, among the larger pool of ongoing COVID hospitalizations.

All of the key COVID indicators reported by the Thai government for last week are at their highest levels in at least six months. --The latest weekly report of 718 new weekly COVID hospitalizations is Thailand's highest reported number since early July (1,193). --The latest weekly report of 11 new COVID deaths is Thailand's highest reported number since early August (12). --The latest weekly report of 209 currently hospitalized COVID patients considered in serious condition is the highest reported number since mid-July (214). --The latest weekly report of 149 currently hospitalized COVID patients requiring intubation / ventilation in order to breath is the highest since early July (166). https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos_by https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main (the second website above also has all the history of weekly MoPH reports, but appears to be down / not responding at the time of this posting)

Source link:

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for Jan. 14 - 20, 2024: --718 new COVID hospitalizations, up 93 from the prior week --11 new COVID deaths, up 4 from the prior week --209 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition, up 32 from the prior week --149 COVID patients hospitalized requiring intubation/ventilation to breathe, up 24 from the prior week Source link

I'm reminded just how effective the 90-day reporting system is at maintaining enforcement and compliance with Immigration rules..... ...every time I read a news report here about this or that farang having lived here unbothered for 4, 6, 10 etc. years past their last permission to stay date, usually until someone grasses on them for some reason.

Just bought a new one for home, after my old one of 4-5 years finally gave up the ghost... These are the two models I've used and endorse (just endorsing the models, not where to buy them). The SW model I bought a pair of probably 4-5 years ago from Aliexpress and have used continuously ever since... One still running fine. The other's built-in battery finally just recently stopped charging. So I bought the Dienmern model below from a Thai Shopee seller. So far, the Dienmern works great and also is very accurate in its readings. Both charge built-in lithium batteries via an included USB cable. You can unplug the cable and they'll run for several days on battery power. Or, do as I do, which is just leave them continuously plugged in and fully charged. When they're plugged in, the display remains on continuously. But at least with the SW model, when on battery power, the display turns off after a set period of time until you press an activate button again. Which is another reason I leave mine plugged in. Sndway SW-825 https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832640444351.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt AND Dienmern DM103 https://www.lazada.co.th/products/pm25-dienmern-3-in-1-i4545601219-s18494901078.html

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home The “tripledemic”—made up of Covid-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—retreated for a second week in a row last week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on Covid-19, after a surge in respiratory disease over the holidays led to a double-digit spike in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths the week after Christmas. In the week ending Jan. 13, CDC data showed 24 states plus Washington, D.C., experienced “high or very high” levels of patients seeking care for respiratory illness symptoms—down from 37 states and territories the week ending Jan. 6. Respiratory viruses are also putting less strain on the nation’s hospitals: Covid-19, the flu and RSV accounted for a combined 6.3% of total emergency room visits last week (3.3% for the flu, 2.5% for Covid and 0.5% for RSV), down from 7.9% across all three viruses the week prior and 9.9% in the last full week of December. Overall, Covid-19 emergency room visits dropped 19% week-over-week, with 32,861 coronavirus hospital admissions over the course of the week. (more) https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/01/19/tripledemic-surge-eases-as-covid-rsv-flu-figures-drop-for-second-week/

China’s population declined for a second consecutive year in 2023, driven by declining birth rates and a major surge in the number of deaths, highlighting the potential impact of the country’s decision to abandon its stringent zero-Covid strategy at the start of that year. According to data published by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country recorded 11.1 million deaths in 2023—an increase of around 690,000 compared to the previous year. ... Bloomberg notes the sharp spike in deaths is likely linked to a surge in Covid-19 the country saw last year after it lifted nearly three years of harsh zero-Covid measures that included extended lockdowns and mandatory testing. (more) https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/01/17/china-saw-nearly-700000-more-deaths-in-2023-after-zero-covid-ended/

And regarding COVID vaccinations for folks in and around Bangkok:

Regarding the COVID piece of this: "New COVID hospitalizations in Thailand rose to 664 for the week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, up 11.8% from 594 the prior week, and reaching the highest new COVID hospitalizations count in the past six months since early July. Last week also marked the first time the weekly new COVID hospitalizations tally had topped 600 since mid-July. Likewise, the count of currently hospitalized COVID patients considered in serious condition rose to 144 for the latest week, up 20% from 120 the prior week, and reaching the highest count in the past five months since early August. [emphasis added] https://aseannow.com/topic/1316796-thailands-latest-seasonal-covid-wave-enters-2024-with-continuing-upward-surge/

Already addressed and answered above. Lots of people are talking about it, just not spreading false conspiracy theories about it. Plenty of elaboration in the long article below of the various factors contributing to the excess deaths issue: What can explain the excess mortality in the U.S. and Europe in 2022? https://healthfeedback.org/what-can-explain-the-excess-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-europe-in-2022/ including... COVID-19 vaccines aren’t responsible for the excess mortality of 2022 Unsurprisingly, reports of excess mortality well into 2022 became fodder for claims by vaccine-skeptic groups that mass vaccination against COVID-19 was responsible for this increase in deaths (see here and here for examples of such social media posts). An article by the website The Exposé, published at the end of November 2022, claimed that “at least 118k children and young adults have ‘died suddenly’ in the USA” and that this was “most likely due to the Covid-19 injections”. This is a variation of the recurring false allegations that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe and deadly that Health Feedback debunked on multiple occasions (see here, here, and here). As we’ll show below, the claims linking vaccination to excess mortality are baseless. [emphasis added]

Then you've got a lot of checking to do because, as listed in the various fact checks above.... Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Healthfeedback.org and factcheck.org -- and the various experts they consult with and the facts they cite -- all say Malhotra is just WRONG! He's simply one of a small number of prominent anti-vax outcasts who has repeatedly been shown to be peddling misinformation.

Good old Andrew Bridgen.... one of the familar COVID vaccine misinformation voices in Parliament: Andrew Bridgen's vaccine debate claims fact checked Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen made a number of claims about the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines during a ’Vaccines: Potential Harms’ adjournment debate he raised in the House of Commons on 13 December. Some of these claims were missing important context, so we’ve fact checked four of them in detail. We have previously fact checked Mr Bridgen’s claims about Covid-19 vaccines twice in recent weeks—once when he made an inaccurate claim at Prime Minister’s Questions about vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and separately during a larger debate on Covid-19 vaccines. https://fullfact.org/health/andrew-bridgen-vaccine-safety-debate/ MPs' vaccine debate fact checked Adverse events aren’t the same as confirmed ‘vaccine injuries’ Mr Bridgen claimed: “A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, included 7,806 children aged five or younger who were followed for an average of 91.4 days after their first Pfizer vaccination. The study showed that one in 500 children under five years of age who received a Pfizer mRNA—messenger ribonucleic acid—covid vaccine were hospitalised with a vaccine injury, and one in 200 had symptoms ongoing for weeks or months afterwards.” It’s misleading to call these ‘vaccine injuries’. The study in question was looking at events that occurred after vaccination, but were not necessarily related to or caused by the vaccine. ..... Pfizer did say they hadn’t tested transmission Later, Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said: “Surely the hon. Gentleman is well aware of the much-publicised interview of a Pfizer representative by a committee of the European Parliament only a couple of weeks ago, when they admitted that they had done no testing whatever to see whether the vaccination prevented transmission of the virus.” Mr Bridgen’s comment implied that Pfizer had originally claimed its Covid-19 vaccine stopped transmission. Pfizer was always clear that it did not test whether the vaccines reduced the risk of transmission among already infected individuals. In other words, it didn’t test whether an infected person was more or less likely to spread the disease if they were vaccinated. https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-safety-westminster-debate/ And once again, there are other similar instances where other of his public comments on the vaccines have been proven wrong.