Several factors make Thais vulnerable to Omicron variant infection

[webfact]

Photo from AFP

 

Thai people are at risk of COVID Omicron variant infection, depending on several factors, said Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha, chief of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Centre today (Tuesday).

 

One factor, he said, is the drop in efficacy of the vaccines three months after inoculation, although the vaccines are regarded as the best currently available.

 

A three-dose course of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines is said to be 10 times more effective than a three-dose course of AstraZeneca, but three months after inoculation, he said that the efficiency of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will drop by about 40%, citing a study by Pfizer.

 

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Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/several-factors-make-thais-vulnerable-to-omicron-variant-infection/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-12-28

 

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[Bkk Brian]

When I see a doctor recommending the following (from the linked article):

 

"Dr. Thiravat said the best way to administer a booster shot is via subcutaneous (under the skin) injection.

Medication to treat symptoms from the Omicron variant infection is as important as vaccination in reducing the risk of hospitalisation or death, he said, adding that such medications include the Fah Talai Jone Thai herbal medicine, Ivermectin, Fluoxetine or Fluvoxamine."

 

Then I know its time to ignore anything else he mentioned also.

[ikke1959]

Thais are vulnerable to omicron because the first doses of Sinovac were not effective enough, later they started to give third/booster of Astra and Pfizer. Moderna has just entered the country. Indeed all the vaccines are less effective after a few months, but with the mix nobody knows exactly how long and how good you are protected... And we don't think about lesser doses they would give under the skin or jab as they wanted to do... It are dangerous times surely because the holiday celebrations are going to start and not being cancelled to control the outbreak.

[tomazbodner]

Yes... I'd like to see a peer reviewed study on efficacy of Fah Talai Jone against Omicron.... against ANY coronavirus will do... from outside Thailand.

[Pouatchee]

43 minutes ago, webfact said:

although the vaccines are regarded as the best currently available.

No siht... is he still on the sinocrap bandwagon or is he talking about the real vaccines he used to scoff at?

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Thai people are at risk of COVID Omicron variant infection, depending on several factors, said Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha

The main risk being that they breathe air, air that contains Omicron.

That's all it takes, vaccinated or not.

 

[Emdog]

Per ukrules, wish to add factors: 1. Thais are alive 2. they breathe air 3. They don't toss out ruling class for monumentally stupid responses that merely enriched them

Factors lessening chances: Most Thais are not lard balls, although percentage has been increasing in recent years. "Obesity is a common, serious, and costly chronic disease. Having obesity puts people at risk for many other serious chronic diseases and increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19." (from the CDC).

[JackGats]

"A three-dose course of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines is said to be 10 times more effective than a three-dose course of AstraZeneca."

 

"Is said to be", exactly. Says the media (and everybody else):

 

Chinese and Russian vaccines = worthless

European vaccine (Astra Zeneca) = average

US vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) = very good

 

The Pfizer vaccine is so good that Israel will soon have administered 4 of it already.

[itsari]

5 minutes ago, JackGats said:

"A three-dose course of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines is said to be 10 times more effective than a three-dose course of AstraZeneca."

 

"Is said to be", exactly. Says the media (and everybody else):

 

Chinese and Russian vaccines = worthless

European vaccine (Astra Zeneca) = average

US vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) = very good

 

The Pfizer vaccine is so good that Israel will soon have administered 4 of it already.

Your statement about Chinese and Russian vaccines is worthless . 

Therefore I consider your post completely worthless .

[2 is 1]

27 minutes ago, ukrules said:

The main risk being that they breathe air, air that contains Omicron.

That's all it takes, vaccinated or not.

 

Yeah only way you are not vulnerable to Omicron variant infection is stop breathing! But when you are vaxxed you not get serious condition.

[mancub]

3 hours ago, itsari said:

Your statement about Chinese and Russian vaccines is worthless . 

Therefore I consider your post completely worthless .

Perhaps just a bit too subtle for you ? The last line more than a hint of sarcasm, maybe ?

[RichardColeman]

12 hours ago, JackGats said:

US vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) = very good

Yes, maybe, but since the US has  lower vaccine take up than many countries , making a better vaccine makes little difference if 30% do not take it.

 

2 doses approx

UK 82%

US  69%

 

Also the US is an extremely obese nation. About 70% either overweight or obese, Again, the vaccines will not be as effective if your body cannot handle the milder symptoms the vaccines provide.

[vandeventer]

15 hours ago, JackGats said:

"A three-dose course of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines is said to be 10 times more effective than a three-dose course of AstraZeneca."

 

"Is said to be", exactly. Says the media (and everybody else):

 

Chinese and Russian vaccines = worthless

European vaccine (Astra Zeneca) = average

US vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) = very good

 

The Pfizer vaccine is so good that Israel will soon have administered 4 of it already.

I wonder who said the best vaccine is  the one that is available now when all we had was Sinovac???

[MuuDaeng]

15 hours ago, 2 is 1 said:

Yeah only way you are not vulnerable to Omicron variant infection is stop breathing! But when you are vaxxed you not get serious condition.

Hardly any person under the age of 60 in normal condition has so far contracted a serious illness due to omicron. The risk has been small throughout the epidemic, and now so negligible that cannot understand this endless vaxxine scheisse, and people still living in deep fear after two years of..., in fact could ask after what.

[mrfill]

17 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Yes... I'd like to see a peer reviewed study on efficacy of Fah Talai Jone against Omicron.... against ANY coronavirus will do... from outside Thailand.

Isn't Fah Talai Jone a reggae singer from the 70s?

[wensiensheng]

Thailands vaccine response has been a bit of a jumbled up mixed bag with many different groups receiving many different mixes of vaccine jabs.

 

to get the whole population up to the optimal vaccine protection level basically requires a redo for most of them. But will the government even try to do that? Or will it just layer ad hoc vaccine choice onto ad hoc vaccine choice. In other words, continue with its hotch  potch strategy.

 

 

[jcmj]

I feel bad for all those who had to get the Sinovac worthless shot, but do not believe this new strain of “flu” will be very hard on those who get it. Much more to do with your current health issues than the virus in my opinion. 

[fredscats]

Asians more prone to pneumonia

[mtls2005]

4 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Thailands vaccine response has been a bit of a jumbled up mixed bag with many different groups receiving many different mixes of vaccine jabs.

The goal was to get 100 mm shots in 50 mm people by Dec. 31. 2021.

 

No regard was made for the efficacy of the vaccines. Vaccine theatre.

 

Yes, it was a MAJOR screw-up, but did we honestly expect anything better?

 

6 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

to get the whole population up to the optimal vaccine protection level basically requires a redo for most of them. But will the government even try to do that?

Clean up in aisle thailand.

 

 

[DefaultName]

Thai's also like to live and sleep in very close groups. That has to be a factor. 

[yogi yogi]

in india some rub cow dung on the body. and find it might work against covid but not sure if its effective against omnicron

 

Edited: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hpm.3257

Edited December 29, 2021 by Scott

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai people are at risk of COVID Omicron variant infection, depending on several factors, said Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha,

Lack of personal hygiene, crowded public transport, large family gatherings, provincial festivals, crowded markets, lack of Covid procedures at work places, national holidays which encourage travel.

There's my seven factors.

[spidermike007]

In this life, you make your bed, and then you have to live with your choices. Thailand made a historic and monumental blunder by not planning a good Vax policy, by choosing the lowest efficacy one available and essentially playing cheap Charlie. 

 

If even 20% of the population still had faith in Prayuth and Anutin before Covid, surely they now understand why they were the worst choices possible, at the very worst time possible. They have brought much devastation, destruction and laid waste to the happiness and quality of life the Thai people enjoyed prior to the Juraissic era. 

[Millcx]

16 hours ago, itsari said:

Your statement about Chinese and Russian vaccines is worthless . 

Therefore I consider your post completely worthless .

Chinese and Russian vaccines is as effective as cats <deleted>… Wake up .. Flu is here to stay and we need to do what we did with all other viruses … This one made Anutin and the elite rich … time to allow all those millionaire Indians to land the tAT have up in that plane they mentioned 18 months ago 5555555

[rupert the bear]

its 2 yrs now,21k thais have died of this and most were sick elderly folks.at the same time maybe 60k dead on the roads,not on the scene of course!!lets put this in some perspective,statistically we are x3 at risk of death motor bound,how many of us thinks not to travel by road??very few id say ,so...........now we have the new variant from SA that rarely kills .isnt it time to get decent jabs x 2 min and get on with life?if you wanna bunker down and pampers up,please be my guest but im done with it and the fear and paranoia of the whole thing.its damaged so much economically,mentally  and in regards to work careers education relationships,yikes. i think in 10 yrs time we will be scratching our heads and say why the F%^& did we do that?look at other parts of the world where other causes of death far outweigh this on a daily basis,hiv in afrika,malaria globally and heart disease,diabetes,cancer in obese western europe and north america.perhps we should focus on the where and why it visited us aghh but the WHO didnt wanna do that did they??skeletons in cupboards,im done with the shreiking and wailing,the paralysis of fear gripping govt and even some of the population,thats my 5 cents worth for what its worth but please spare me your weeping fear.

[jacko45k]

On 12/29/2021 at 8:22 AM, Dialemco said:

 

South Africa, which was the first country to detect Omicron, have just adopted a policy of not testing, and if you do have asymptomatic omicron, do nothing. No need to self isolate or quarantine. 

[Joules]

19 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

In this life, you make your bed, and then you have to live with your choices. Thailand made a historic and monumental blunder by not planning a good Vax policy, by choosing the lowest efficacy one available and essentially playing cheap Charlie. 

 

If even 20% of the population still had faith in Prayuth and Anutin before Covid, surely they now understand why they were the worst choices possible, at the very worst time possible. They have brought much devastation, destruction and laid waste to the happiness and quality of life the Thai people enjoyed prior to the Juraissic era. 

But!  Give Prayuth and Anutin their due.  They are no fools.  they saw a great business opportunity for them and their cronies by choking out Moderna and Pfizer with red tape while making millions with "local" backhander vaccines.  I'm even a little bit envious.

[AMFWolfie]

17 hours ago, ukrules said:

The main risk being that they breathe air, air that contains Omicron.

That's all it takes, vaccinated or not.

 

Not strictly true!! If Omicron was airborne the whole world would have it. The virus is transmitted on minute droplets of water from sneezing, coughing etc from an infectious host much the same as all types of these viruses are transmitted including the flue and common cold which on the scale of things which is why its such a small percentage of people being infected

[placeholder]

17 hours ago, JackGats said:

"A three-dose course of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines is said to be 10 times more effective than a three-dose course of AstraZeneca."

 

"Is said to be", exactly. Says the media (and everybody else):

 

Chinese and Russian vaccines = worthless

European vaccine (Astra Zeneca) = average

US vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) = very good

 

The Pfizer vaccine is so good that Israel will soon have administered 4 of it already.

Thanks for sharing with us your lack of understanding of the effectiveness of these vaccines.

In the past, the Chinese vaccines have been less effective at stopping transmission but very effective at reducing the incidence of serious illness and death from Covid. No one yet knows how they effective they are against the Omicron variant in regards to serious illness and deaths.

The Russian vaccine actually has performed excellently against Covid. Again, not known how it will perform against the Omicron variant.

There has just been a study of how well the AZ vaccine performed against the Omicron after a booster. It performed excellently.

As have Pfizer and Moderna.

By the way, insofar as any vaccine can be assigned a provenance, the Pfizer vaccine was actually the work of Turkish immigrant scientists working in Germany. The name of their company is BioNtech. So, the Pfizer vaccine is not American.

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by placeholder

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, vandeventer said:

I wonder who said the best vaccine is  the one that is available now when all we had was Sinovac???

Whoever it was who said that, I think we can both agree, based on the strength of the evidence, that they got it right.

 

Chilean study shows variations in success of COVID-19 vaccines

Chile began one of the world's fastest inoculation campaigns against COVID-19 in December, having now fully vaccinated more than 60% of its population, predominantly with Sinovac's (SVA.O)CoronaVac.

That vaccine was 86% effective in preventing hospitalization, 89.7% effective in preventing admission to intensive care units and 86% effective in preventing deaths within the population between February and July, health official Dr Rafael Araos said in a press conference on Tuesday.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/sinovacs-covid-19-vaccine-585-effective-preventing-illness-chile-real-world-2021-08-03/

 

Sinovac Shot Controls Covid in Brazil Town After 75% Covered

Vaccine prevents 80% symptomatic disease in town of 45,000

Deaths, hospitalizations and cases dropped sharply in Serrana

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-31/sinovac-shot-controlled-covid-in-brazil-town-after-75-covered