Thailand’s sluggish vaccine rollout no match for super-contagious COVID strain

[webfact]

A health worker administers the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by China’s Sinovac firm, to a man from an at-risk group at a makeshift clinic in Bangkok on April 7, 2021. (Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP)

 

By Thai PBS World’s General Desk

 

Thailand is ramping up its COVID-19 vaccination drive following an unprecedented surge in infections since April 5, with Thursday (April 15) bringing a record 24-hour high of 1,535 new cases.

 

Official records show that only 247,850 people in Thailand had received their first jab as of April 5 – but that number more than doubled to 581,311 by April 15. Both vaccines provided by the government – Sinovac and AstraZeneca – require two doses.

 

However, though the number of Thais vaccinated against COVID-19 has risen fast, it is still less than 1 percent of the total population. About 70 percent of the population must have antibodies before herd immunity is reached, research suggests.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailands-sluggish-vaccine-rollout-no-match-for-super-contagious-covid-strain/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-04-16

 

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[Pattaya Spotter]

A Chinese philosopher said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

[ThailandRyan]

As Sun Tzu would say about this Government being that they are a military group:

 

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

 

However, he would preface the last sentence in regard to how they have handled the Covid vaccine rollout and fighting the beast we see now.  They have failed and as of now are rolling over and giving in to their abject failures.

[SiamRead]

2 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

A Chinese philosopher said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

The journey was delayed. The first step only started lately. 

[internationalism]

On 13th only 773, with some 1000 positives. 
rhey should not test but vax as fast as possible. Takes time for the body to create some immunity. 

[ukrules]

3 hours ago, internationalism said:

On 13th only 773, with some 1000 positives. 
rhey should not test but vax as fast as possible. Takes time for the body to create some immunity. 

 

They can do both testing and vaccination just like every other country in the world - and they will.

 

[brucegoniners]

You'd think Trump was running it, lol

[Cake Monster]

4 hours ago, internationalism said:

On 13th only 773, with some 1000 positives. 
rhey should not test but vax as fast as possible. Takes time for the body to create some immunity. 

And with the Sinovac Vaccine, the first Jab only gives 3 % Immunity.

Apparently it gets better after the second jab, so until the second Jabs are administered, there is very little protection.

[fvw53]

28 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

And with the Sinovac Vaccine, the first Jab only gives 3 % Immunity.

Apparently it gets better after the second jab, so until the second Jabs are administered, there is very little protection.

 

In Chile they used the Chinese vaccine and the results are not convincing 

QUOTE 

More than 93% of the doses administered in Chile so far have been CoronaVac, produced by the Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac.

UNQUOTE

Chile sees Covid surge despite vaccination success - BBC News

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

A Chinese philosopher said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

Thailands step appears to be a backwards one.

[Pattaya Spotter]

6 hours ago, SiamRead said:

The journey was delayed. The first step only started lately. 

But it's started...we're not where we were yesterday ????

[Pattaya Spotter]

27 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Thailands step appears to be a backwards one.

Getting vaccines rolling is going backwards...how so exactly...or are you just a typical Forum anything Thai basher? 

[hotchilli]

9 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Getting vaccines rolling is going backwards...how so exactly...or are you just a typical Forum anything Thai basher? 

When infections are overtaking the vaccination program I believe it's going backwards... 

[ThailandRyan]

2 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

When infections are overtaking the vaccination program I believe it's going backwards... 

add in a major decrease in vaccinations this week because of Songkran.  You would have thought they would have ramped up their efforts, but alas not on their agenda.

[Pattaya Spotter]

9 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

When infections are overtaking the vaccination program I believe it's going backwards... 

That's been the case in most countries when vaccinations started...that's the whole purpose of vaccinating people...there's a dangerous pandemic about.

[Bkk Brian]

12 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

there's a dangerous pandemic about.

I finally agree with you ????

[The Hammer2021]

35 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Getting vaccines rolling is going backwards...how so exactly...or are you just a typical Forum anything Thai basher? 

Well spotted.

[The Hammer2021]

15 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

That's been the case in most countries when vaccinations started...that's the whole purpose of vaccinating people...there's a dangerous pandemic about.

You can ignore everything certain  posters say. They have one view based on personal inadequacy translated into hatred of all things Thai. Best to ignore them or report  them for trolling.

[The Hammer2021]

28 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

add in a major decrease in vaccinations this week because of Songkran.  You would have thought they would have ramped up their efforts, but alas not on their agenda.

The main immunization campaign was due to start in June. It looks like it's being brought  forward. Hopefully the Thais won't follow the French/German/ EU vacine rollout model but emulate the UK/Israeli/ USA rollout.

[Bkk Brian]

13 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

The main immunization campaign was due to start in June. It looks like it's being brought  forward. Hopefully the Thais won't follow the French/German/ EU vacine rollout model but emulate the UK/Israeli/ USA rollout.

But its been revised down from the promised 10 million a month to now an estimated 6 - 10 million a month, thats the latest official statement

[The Hammer2021]

Just now, Bkk Brian said:

But its been revised down from the promised 10 million a month to now an estimated 6 - 10 million a month, thats the latest official statement

Sounds more realistic perhaps but let's hope they manage to exceed it just as the USA hit their target earlier than predicted.

[poohy]

10 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

A Chinese philosopher said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

I thought it was a flat battery and a broken fan belt

[Damrongsak]

Here's a convenient vaccination tracker for those who follow this stuff.  https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/health/global-covid-vaccinations/

 

In the USA, we got really good at catching Covid with about 31 million cases.  We had over 300K new cases reported one day in January.  Fortunately the vaccine rollout seems to be going well, with over 3 million shots administered per day.  One day we hit 4 million and are close to 200 million shots so far.  Where does one find over 3 million syringes per day?

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Sounds more realistic perhaps but let's hope they manage to exceed it just as the USA hit their target earlier than predicted.

US infection rates are still very high but it seems the death rate is dropping. I think we will see the same here - it's reported that it's mainly the 20-30 then 30-40 year old age bracket in Thailand that are reportign beign infected. But vaccinations in the early part focus on medical staff and those with co-morbidities (and not of those youngsters getting infected). So I don't see the spread of infection decreasing drastically due to the vaccination alone, at least in the short term. Israel is starting to show good results, but it has taken a few months to do it. 

[MrJ2U]

3 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

And with the Sinovac Vaccine, the first Jab only gives 3 % Immunity.

Apparently it gets better after the second jab, so until the second Jabs are administered, there is very little protection.

After the second its 50.4%.  About the same with AstraVeneca against the UK strain.

[Bkk Brian]

11 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

After the second its 50.4%.  About the same with AstraVeneca against the UK strain.

Who told you the AZ is only around 50.4% on the UK strain?

 

A very recent study is linked here

"the team found that the clinical efficacy against symptomatic NAAT positive infection was 70.4 percent for B.1.1.7 and 81.5 percent for non-B.1.1.7 lineages."

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210331/Oxford-AstraZeneca-vaccine-effective-against-B117-SARS-CoV-2-variant.aspx

 

Its also published in the Lancet but this link has a good summary

Edited April 16, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[Selatan]

3 hours ago, fvw53 said:

 

In Chile they used the Chinese vaccine and the results are not convincing 

QUOTE 

More than 93% of the doses administered in Chile so far have been CoronaVac, produced by the Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac.

UNQUOTE

Chile sees Covid surge despite vaccination success - BBC News

So, the removal of restrictions is not to be blamed at all but blamed it all on the vaccine? According to your own news source:
 

Quote

What went wrong?

Critics have accused the Piñera government of getting caught up in triumphalism over the vaccine rollout and of having loosened coronavirus restrictions too fast.

Like governments across the world, ministers here faced difficult choices.

Chile's borders had been closed - bar for a few exceptions - from March to November 2020. But after a strict lockdown had driven the rolling seven-day average down to 1,300 cases in November, the decision was taken to reopen them, including to international tourists.

Chileans were also given special holiday permits to travel more freely around the country during the southern hemisphere summer holidays after some experts argued it was important for people's mental health.

Restaurants, shops, and holiday resorts were opened up to kickstart the faltering economy.

Fast, but not in time for the holidays

And while the vaccination rollout has indeed been fast, it only started in late December, with front-line health care workers, those over 90, and teachers first in line.

 

So the vast majority of Chileans would not yet have been vaccinated by the time they met up with relatives and friends for their summer holidays in January and February

If there are no infections leading to death after the second dose, then a vaccine is considered successful. But in the US, the CDC has confirmed 5,400 people that have taken the second dose, had been infected and 74 had died. This means the claims by Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines could prevent severe disease and death has been proven to be false.

CDC: Out of 75 million fully vaccinated Americans, 5,800 got COVID-19, and 74 died

[Damrongsak]

31 minutes ago, DavisH said:

US infection rates are still very high but it seems the death rate is dropping. ...

Yep, about 70,000 cases per day and deaths have dipped below 1,000 per day.

[Bkk Brian]

9 minutes ago, Selatan said:

If there are no infections leading to death after the second dose, then a vaccine is considered successful. But in the US, the CDC has confirmed 5,400 people that have taken the second dose, had been infected and 74 had died. This means the claims by Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines could prevent severe disease and death has been proven to be false.

CDC: Out of 75 million fully vaccinated Americans, 5,800 got COVID-19, and 74 died

I'm not sure I see what you're trying to claim? I've never seen an official report that vaccines no matter what brand will 100% stop all deaths and serious illness, have you.

 

Reduce yes, stop no. From your link

 

'The vaccine is working as expected'

These breakthrough infections are to be expected and are in line with how other vaccines work, the CDC said.

 

The new figures from the CDC also suggest that the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are nearly perfect at preventing death, as clinical trials had suggested: With 74 fatalities in 75 million people fully vaccinated, the vaccines appeared to be 99.99% effective.

 

 

[AndyFoxy]

17 minutes ago, Selatan said:

So, the removal of restrictions is not to be blamed at all but blamed it all on the vaccine? According to your own news source:
 

If there are no infections leading to death after the second dose, then a vaccine is considered successful. But in the US, the CDC has confirmed 5,400 people that have taken the second dose, had been infected and 74 had died. This means the claims by Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines could prevent severe disease and death has been proven to be false.

CDC: Out of 75 million fully vaccinated Americans, 5,800 got COVID-19, and 74 died

So about .00001 percent chance of dying. I'll take my chances with the vaccine I think.