Whilst the 'other' variants have been, in the main, dealt with, the Main area of concern now is the Delta variant.    Putting too much emphasis on being 'vaccinated and protected' whilst true where the initial variants are concerned, will lead to more people being infected by the Delta variant if we let our guard down because it is not known if the current vaccines can deal with it, and current indication from PHE is that efficiay of these vaccines is quite low, in the absence of relevant data.

 

Ipsofacto Phuket and Pattaya are placing too much hope on being 'vaccinated' and expecting 'hordes' to arrive from the UK and Europe where the Delta variant is racing away and infecting thousands daily, and in the unlikely event that hordes' do arrive, they could spread the infection amongst the Thais they come into contact with simply because the Delta variant is far more transmissible.   The fact that front line people in those tourist areas have been vaccinated will be of no help if the current vaccines are not effective.  Plus what about the people who have been unable to be vaccinated because of this Governments incompetence!

 

The Thai Government's vaccine roll out has been, as we all know, a total and utter failure.    The number of people in Thailand who already have the Delta variant is unknown because testing is only done on a small percentage of people.   Surely the Thai people would not accept a further crisis for the Government, caused by allowing the Delta variant to be imported unknowingly, by tourists from the UK or Europe, which would exacerbate the current infection and death rate in Thailand, as it surely would do. 

 

Until a new vaccine is available, it is a 'lose lose' situation and Thailand should remain cautious and watchful.

 

Oh! The Magical Words 'Vaccinated and Protected'.

 

I fail to understand why anyone thinks that just being vaccinated means one is "protected". Wishful thinking, perhaps?

 

To my knowledge none of the vaccines are 100% effective, and isn't it well known that they do not necessarily prevent one becoming infected, but only prevent one becoming actually ill?

12 hours ago, Havenstreet1940 said:

The Thai Government's vaccine roll out has been, as we all know, a total and utter failure.    The number of people in Thailand who already have the Delta variant is unknown because testing is only done on a small percentage of people.   Surely the Thai people would not accept a further crisis for the Government, caused by allowing the Delta variant to be imported unknowingly, by tourists from the UK or Europe, which would exacerbate the current infection and death rate in Thailand, as it surely would do. 

 

Until a new vaccine is available, it is a 'lose lose' situation and Thailand should remain cautious and watchful.

Do you think that it is possible to keep new variants out of Thailand simply by being cautious and watchful?

I would contend that in an age where travel from Europe to Thailand takes less than a day it is an impossibility.

 

IMO people around the world are just going to have to accept reality and learn to live with corona just as they do with influenza.

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Oh! The Magical Words 'Vaccinated and Protected'.

 

I fail to understand why anyone thinks that just being vaccinated means one is "protected". Wishful thinking, perhaps?

 

To my knowledge none of the vaccines are 100% effective, and isn't it well known that they do not necessarily prevent one becoming infected, but only prevent one becoming actually ill?

So by your own reasoning that vaccines "only prevent one becoming actually ill" means that they don't protect one? Does "protect" mean something different in New Zealand than it does in other parts of the English speaking world?