TallGuyJohninBKK

The U.S. FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer COVID vaccine back in August 2021, and Moderna after that in January 2022. Only the subsequent booster versions of the vaccines are still under emergency use authorizations. FDA grants full approval to Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/23/health/fda-approval-pfizer-covid-vaccine/index.html FDA Takes Key Action by Approving Second COVID-19 Vaccine "Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a second COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine; the approved vaccine will be marketed as Spikevax for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older." https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-takes-key-action-approving-second-covid-19-vaccine Similar for other countries around the world.

"Data during recent periods are incomplete because of the lag in time between when a death occurs and when a death certificate is completed, submitted to NCHS, and processed for reporting. This delay can range from 1 week to 8 weeks or more, depending on the jurisdiction. The most recent 3 weeks of mortality counts are shaded grey and mortality rates shown as dotted lines because NVSS reporting is <95% during this period." "Deaths include those with COVID-19, coded to ICD–10 code U07.1, as an underlying or contributing cause of death on the death certificate." https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

The US government may be done with Covid, but recent CDC data shows an alarming number of Americans are still dying from the respiratory disease "Nearly four years into the pandemic, hundreds of Americans are still dying every day from Covid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus is responsible for around 1,000 deaths and 15,000 hospitalisations each week, CDC Director Mandy Cohen said during a media briefing on 2 December. Death rates briefly dipped below 500 per week in July, the lowest rates since the pandemic began, before steadily increasing to as high as 1,400 in September." (more) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/covid-symptoms-cases-new-spike-b2460186.html

Daughter's 'rage' over former PM Johnson's Covid comments 8th December 2023 "The daughter of a woman who died during the coronavirus pandemic has said she is "incandescent with rage" following former prime minister Boris Johnson’s testimony at the Covid inquiry. Covid patient Susan Handley from Tamworth, Staffordshire, died in November 2020. ... Mrs Handley's daughter Victoria said she wanted accountability from decision-makers, and an admission that families were let down. She said: “We’re incandescent with rage at the moment, and there’s nothing taking that away until Boris Johnson owns up to what he’s done.” (more) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c192d3ev19ro

Range of viral, bacterial infections are circulating while Canadian hospitals remain under strain Dec 08, 2023 "It's another busy fall in Canadian hospitals, with emergency department closures, long wait times, and ongoing staff shortages all making headlines. The situation can turn deadly: Two people died while waiting for care at the Anna-Laberge hospital in Châteauguay, Que., just last week. And as health-care teams remain dangerously overstretched, they're also grappling with the pressure of what some physicians are calling a "new norm" for seasonal illnesses — a range of viral and bacterial infections all back in circulation, with COVID-19 still chief among them." (more) https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-flu-rsv-pneumonia-1.7052339

Covid inquiry: I did not back a 'let it rip' policy, says Boris Johnson 8th December 2023 "Boris Johnson has insisted he did not pursue a "let it rip" strategy during the coronavirus pandemic. Giving evidence to the Covid inquiry, he said he did offer counter arguments in order to challenge the consensus in meetings. He argued his actions proved he worked to curb the virus, rather than allowing it to spread through the population." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67646548

"Even after the billions of doses given during the pandemic, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines still hold surprises. A study out today [6 Dec 2023] reveals they may unexpectedly prompt cells to produce small amounts of unintended proteins. There is no evidence that these mistakes compromise the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, which saved millions of lives, and the researchers have already proposed a fix that may help make future vaccines or drugs based on mRNAs safer and even more effective. Other scientists say there is nothing alarming about the new work, reported today in Nature, and agree that it could help improve the design of mRNA treatments still under development." (more) https://www.science.org/content/article/mrna-vaccines-may-make-unintended-proteins-there-s-no-evidence-harm

Masks only have the potential to work when people actually wear them... It's kind of a somewhat futile exercise to require kids to wear masks in school (if they really were required to wear them) and then have them go maskless after school and while out socializing and at home where family members may have been outside and around others all day without masks.

That very brief report is talking about a snapshot of behavior during a couple months period of the UK's original lockdown -- and nowhere in there does it mention or address protective behaviors like face masking or social distancing, but instead is focused on past "lockdown compliance." And one of the only actual compliance behaviors it specifically mentions was whether people complied with a 20 mph speed limit in Wales during that time!!! "One example the researchers point to is the introduction of the 20mph limit in Wales. The existing campaign to inform the public of the speed limit change, which focuses primarily on the lives potentially saved by driving slower is unlikely to encourage compliance from more agentic personalities. A broader campaign, which also focuses on personal costs and benefits of compliance with the change would target a wider range of personality types more effectively, the researchers say." That certainly tells us a lot!!!

And let's throw the kids under the COVID bus, while you're at it..... COVID-19 hospital admissions among children rising again September 19, 2023 "In the past three months, the number of children with confirmed COVID-19 at hospital admission has risen consistently, with children under 5 years at highest risk. ... Recent analysis of the data shows the number of children under age 18 with confirmed COVID-19 at hospital admission increased nearly five-fold from 237 new admissions the week ending June 17 to 1,175 in the week ending Sept. 9. ... The number of new weekly COVID-19 admissions for children ages 0-4 years increased from 116 to 550." https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/26147/COVID-19-hospital-admissions-among-children-rising?searchresult=1

Probably because diet and exercise don't prevent or even reduce the risks that you'll catch the COVID virus (though being fit will help reduce your chances of serious illness from it), whereas quality face mask have been proven (as documented by my prior sourced posts in this thread) to actually reduce the risks you'll catch COVID in the first place. The best protection against a virus and disease is to not catch it in the first place.

Statista says there were more than 50,000 COVID deaths in the UK during 2022: Cumulative number of coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in the United Kingdom (UK) Added COVID deaths during 2022: 50,652 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109595/coronavirus-mortality-in-the-uk/

You're mistaken... because (and the OP news report didn't do a very good job of clarifying this) the data reported by the doctor in the OP was ONLY for HIS ONE hospital alone for the month of November... And, he wasn't counting new COVID HOSPITALIZATIONS as the government does for its weekly national reports, but instead was just reporting and counting positive TESTS for COVID and other diseases, again, just at his ONE hospital only... Via Google Translate of his FB post: "Last November 2566, data of Vichaiyut Hospital that tracked respiratory infections caused by COVID-19, RSV (RSV) and Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) Last month, 545 COVID infected cases were found. Continuous increase." He's posting about his hospital's COVID positive ATK and RT-PCR test results, with the red columns below showing those tallies by month for 2023 vs the green showing for 2022: The monthly test results for ONE hospital out of hundreds in Thailand. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0L619GteN5Yrg6GvEbxjih9ZwXdWN2aytF5vTYQj4zYCMafG2oMW8r1oM1U6yNhwml&id=100066692243273

Hey, it's just 300+ UK COVID deaths per week right now: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=overview&areaName=United Kingdom

The numbers may be different for Thailand, which has a serious diabetes problem, and doesn't readily make public this kind of info... But the U.S. does (2022 year is the latest available data, 2023 not available yet): https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7218a3.htm

Disposable face masks don't have to be worn only once, and then after that they cease to be effective... They can be reworn, as long as they're kept clean and stored properly. Also... per the U.S. CDC: Wear a Mask to Protect Yourself and Others Masking is a critical public health tool and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask. Wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/masks.html Information about our most popular models of 3M N95 Respirators (sometimes referred to as “masks”) "There is no time limit to wearing an N95. Respirators can be worn until they are dirty, damaged, or difficult to breathe through. To be effective, a respirator needs to be worn correctly and worn throughout the duration of the hazardous exposure." https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/worker-health-safety-us/covid19/my-n95/

For which, one of the best available protections (when away from air purified spaces) is wearing an N95 or similar face mask -- at least until Thailand gets serious about reducing its air pollution problem. So really, face masking is a two-fer, or three-fer or more... N95s and similar, when worn properly and consistently, protect against COVID, protect against PM2.5, protect against flu and RSV, etc etc.

It's COVID, and not the "pharma industry", that continuing to kill more than 1,000 people each week in the U.S. (COVID is either the underlying cause or a contributing cause of death). Kind of makes you wonder if Thailand is really capturing/counting all of its COVID deaths: source link

Another false (and unsourced and unsubstantiated) myth perpetuated by anti-maskers: Myths and facts when it comes to wearing masks "Myth: Masks don’t actually work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and are incapable of stopping viral transmission. Fact: The use of masks to reduce the emission of respiratory particles – source control – has been part of medical science for years. With COVID-19, masks are effective at blocking most large droplets, but can also block the exhalation of fine droplets and particles. They can also help prevent the inhalation of these respiratory particles." https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/Blogs/BTH/Posting335.aspx

I'll "give it a rest" when COVID gives Thailand and the world a rest... Weekly counts of new COVID hospitalizations in Thailand over the past eight weeks (shown in the red boxes below) have quadrupled from 100+ to more than 500 for the most recent week, and have steadily risen for six of the past seven weeks: https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

Because the studies published overwhelmingly show wearing good quality face masks (N95, KN94, etc) helps keep the wearer protected and protects others around them -- notwithstanding your unsourced and unsubstantiated claim. Masks During Pandemics Caused by Respiratory Pathogens—Evidence and Implications for Action October 31, 2023 "Findings Literature review revealed many high-quality observational studies demonstrating the association of face mask use in the community and of mask mandates with reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2.... Robust available data support the use of face masks in community settings to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and should inform future responses to epidemics and pandemics caused by respiratory viruses." https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2811136 Face mask effectiveness: What science knows now October 29, 2023 Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech university professor specializing in aerosol science: "They are very helpful in reducing the chances that the person will get COVID because it's reducing the amount of virus that you would inhale from the air around you," Marr said about masks. No mask is 100% effective. An N95, for example, is named as such because it is at least 95% efficient at blocking airborne particles when used properly. But even if a mask has an 80% efficiency, Marr said, it still offers meaningful protection." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-mask-effectiveness-what-science-knows-now-60-minutes/

Thailand is pretty sparse in the details they release about such things. But the U.S. provides very detailed info on just that point: Deaths and hospitalizations from COVID long have and continue to far outpace those associated with the flu. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/illness-severity.html

Thanks much for the head's up about this upcoming session. Indeed, the promo code you provided above does work successfully, when you click the link to register for the event as a non chamber member. Also, it looks like the online session is going to be held using the Zoom video conferencing app. So folks who want to participate will need to install Zoom on their PC or other device. The no-fee promo code USBKK23 goes here:

The above excerpt says the opposite.... Maybe not "normal" as in the same as for regular commercial flight passengers... But supposedly still having to pass thru Immigration and have his passport and visa details checked.

Re this guy's supposed original arrival into Thailand on a chartered flight with someone else's passport: "do private planes go through customs? The short answer is: Yes. Private jet customs follow a similar process compared to commercial flights. You’ll need to present your passport and visa, and you may have to declare certain items you’re bringing into the country." https://accessjetgroup.com/do-private-planes-go-through-customs/