By Cod Satrusayang

 

Thailand’s vaccine holdouts and anti-vaccine movement is jeopardizing the country’s hard-earned Covid-19 gained, a doctor at Vajira Hospital told Thai Enquirer on Friday.

 

The country has seen increasing Covid-19 numbers fueled in part by the fast-spreading Omicron variant. On Friday, the country found over 26,000 new cases.

 

More worryingly, the number of fatalities has also been high over the last two months with death rates between 50 – 100 fatalities per day.

 

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Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/38911/vaccine-holdouts-are-jeopardizing-thailands-hard-earned-covid-gains/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2022-03-25

 

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one make it sound that its again only people not wanting to be vaccinated  but truth is also the rollout of boosters is way behind schedule for the general public

29 minutes ago, webfact said:

The country has seen increasing Covid-19 numbers fueled in part by the fast-spreading Omicron variant. On Friday, the country found over 26,000 new cases.

 

More worryingly, the number of fatalities has also been high over the last two months with death rates between 50 – 100 fatalities per day.

And this is because of Vaccine holdouts? Really, even those of us vaccinated have been hit by Omicron so its not just the unvaccinated.  Where are these hard earned Covid 19 gains.  This recent wave is not progressing like it has in every other country, how can that be? Does Covid only act differently because TIT.  Reality is a lack of true and transparent testing.  

 

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s vaccine holdouts and anti-vaccine movement is jeopardizing the country’s hard-earned Covid-19 gained, a doctor at Vajira Hospital told Thai Enquirer on Friday.

The numbers of those I know that have been vaccinated and boosted and are now sick with Omicron is growing daily.  Sure it is anecdotal evidence but please tell me how everyone else sees it but the Government.

I firmly believe that many of the people that were vaccinated with Sinovac during the first round will now have minimal protection. The authorities are blaming their poor decisions on the populace.

 

Are these Sinovaxed people rushing to get vaccinated again? Probably not.

 

Even people who have been vaccinated with the better vaccines catch it and can have quite bad symptoms.  In the company I work for everyone has been triple vaxxed and we still get around 10 positive cases per week. Mask compliance has been very high in Thailand as well. Stop blaming the people, most people have done pretty much everything asked of them.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s vaccine holdouts and anti-vaccine movement is jeopardizing the country’s hard-earned Covid-19 gained

What a totally ridiculous statement for any health professional to make. ????

 

 

 

4 hours ago, pvdb64 said:

one make it sound that its again only people not wanting to be vaccinated  but truth is also the rollout of boosters is way behind schedule for the general public

It would also help if more information was made available in the media, in English.  My local government hospital has told me several times to watch thier Facebook page for announcements.  I have been, and next to nothing posted in English about COVID-19 boosters, but much just in Thai.

You know its serious when deaths almost reach the daily road deaths.  If someone refuses to get vaccinated then I think its almost time for this guy to step in.

 

Article should state that 25% All Thais are Not Fully Vaccinated and of the 75% who Are, around Half have the rather Ineffective Chinese Vax.

 

In comparison, the West has around SAME 25% Rate of Hardcore / Child Unvaxxed but the 75% Vaxxed have only the far more effective Western Vaccines, enabling England ( not UK) for example to drop all Covid restrictions now.

 

Thailand should do same as this DeltaCron B2 must be spreading almost Entirely Locally  by Thai Resident Population not Foreign Tourists ( All Vaxxed).

1 hour ago, Jimbo2014 said:

You know its serious when deaths almost reach the daily road deaths.  If someone refuses to get vaccinated then I think its almost time for this guy to step in.

 

Assure you he is. Unvaxxed here should ideally perhaps face Sanctions / Limitations now although that is not practical & would be hugely disruptive.

Article also fails to give the (90-97% ?) Covid dead here are Unvaxxed statistic…… instead says “ overwhelming “…..buried in the article text …. should be Prominent! 

Perhaps the good doctor should look at how South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Gibraltar, Israel etc. are faring with the vax rates  around 90 or higher including those with boosters and forth doses.  It doesn't look good to say the least.

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

And this is because of Vaccine holdouts? Really, even those of us vaccinated have been hit by Omicron so its not just the unvaccinated.  Where are these hard earned Covid 19 gains.  This recent wave is not progressing like it has in every other country, how can that be? Does Covid only act differently because TIT.  Reality is a lack of true and transparent testing.  

 

The numbers of those I know that have been vaccinated and boosted and are now sick with Omicron is growing daily.  Sure it is anecdotal evidence but please tell me how everyone else sees it but the Government.

That’s interesting & true I know from expat experience around me but it’s negative.
we need to move forward right now to strategy of “ living with endemic Covid”.

 

Nobody I bet triple western vaxxed has Died of Covid here. 90- 95% Covid Dead were Not Vaxxed.
 

That’s all that really matters plus that it must be 99% local transmission not by tourists as all fully vaxxed. 

30 minutes ago, cantdrive55 said:

Perhaps the good doctor should look at how South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Gibraltar, Israel etc. are faring with the vax rates  around 90 or higher including those with boosters and forth doses.  It doesn't look good to say the least.

Meaning what ? It’s the 90-97% Dead Worldwide being Unvaxxed that’s clogging up Hospitals and stopping the lifting of all Covid restrictions. 

53 minutes ago, TropicalGuy said:

In comparison, the West has around SAME 25% Rate of Hardcore / Child Unvaxxed but the 75% Vaxxed have only the far more effective Western Vaccines, enabling England ( not UK) for example to drop all Covid restrictions now.

The only problem in England is that they have more cases right now than at any time before...

 

 

7 minutes ago, ukrules said:

The only problem in England is that they have more cases right now than at any time before...

 

 

Because they keep Testing in Hospitals ? Should not be Testing anywhere else now in England ? Why would they ? ! Only Deaths really matter now and 97% in UK are Unvaxxed.

1 hour ago, TropicalGuy said:

Assure you he is. Unvaxxed here should ideally perhaps face Sanctions / Limitations now although that is not practical & would be hugely disruptive.

There's a reason why every other country in the world which did exactly that are now rolling back these 'dumb as they come' sanction type rules - it's because they're completely ineffective and everyone is susceptible to Omicron regardless of previous infection or vaccination.

 

I know a guy in Belgium who was out and about after getting his green pass or whatever they called it, he was popping over to France for shopping and into the Netherlands for business, then he got COVID.

 

How did he catch COVID? His behaviour changed from that of someone in 'infection control mode' to what it was before, he was going out to bars and restaurants just like before - that's how he caught it and subsequently infected his entire family.

21 minutes ago, TropicalGuy said:

Because they keep Testing in Hospitals ? Should not be Testing anywhere else now in England ? Why would they ? ! Only Deaths really matter now and 97% in UK are Unvaxxed.

97% unvaxxed, I don't think so, and they're rolling out a new booster to the over 75s very soon.

 

My mother is in hospital right now and has been for about a month - they don't keep testing, they test a couple of times on admission and thats it.

 

Having said that now they're allowing visitors in I do expect there to be an explosion of cases in the hospitals in the coming weeks.

7 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Mask compliance has been very high in Thailand as well. Stop blaming the people, most people have done pretty much everything asked of them.

Not a comment about the people at your company, but just the locals in general:

 

It doesn't really do any good if people wear a mask all day at work because that's what their employer requires, but then go out after work socializing at restaurants, bars or pubs and spend the whole night maskless around others.

 

"jeopardizing Thailand’s hard-earned Covid gains"

 

 

7 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

The numbers of those I know that have been vaccinated and boosted and are now sick with Omicron is growing daily.  Sure it is anecdotal evidence but please tell me how everyone else sees it but the Government.

 

As you know, there are lots of different potential reasons for things:

 

1. Even the mRNA vaccines, if used for all 3 doses which probably doesn't apply to most Thais, are only partially effective at blocking infection by Omicron, and probably less so with the more transmissible newer BA2 strain. (Though supposed to still be very strong at preventing serious illness/hospitalization and deaths).

 

2. The timing of when people received their vaccines and boosters comes into the picture as well, with the latest research I've seen suggesting the best protection against basic infection seems to last only several months post injection, and then you have vaccine waning begin to occur.

 

3. The variability of just what exact brand of vaccines the people have received, which can impact just how much protection is provided.

 

That said, all of the above argues for maintaining reasonable levels of public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus beyond the protections provided by vaccination. And at this point, a lot of people seem very resistant to those kinds of things.

 

Talking about supposed gains -- the number of Thais hospitalized with COVID in serious condition or requiring intubation to breathe has been rising steadily for weeks now, and once again reached new record high levels for 2022, as reported by the government earlier today.

 

Undoubtedly, without the modest levels of vaccination that have occurred here (barely 30%+ fully boosted), the death and hospitalization numbers would be even worse.

 

IMHO, people need to do everything they reasonably can to protect themselves from becoming infected... and too many simply aren't.  Whether it's those who haven't been fully boosted (3 shots) with COVID vaccination, or consistently following personal protection measures.

 

67% of Thailand's population has not yet received the third shot booster dose that public health authorities say provides the best protection against the current Omicron variant:

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528681385416857/?type=3

 

7 hours ago, JonnyF said:

I firmly believe that many of the people that were vaccinated with Sinovac during the first round will now have minimal protection. The authorities are blaming their poor decisions on the populace.

I agree.  Around 30% triple jabbed could mean a little over 30% with decent protection against Omicron.

They are always placing the blame somewhere. Except where it belongs. If this cheapskate administration had made the smart choice to begin with, and had opted into the international programs, and offered the Thai people higher quality vaccines, perhaps things would be under control right now. 

 

Instead they went with the lowest efficacy vaccine available. What could possibly go wrong?

12 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

And this is because of Vaccine holdouts? Really, even those of us vaccinated have been hit by Omicron so its not just the unvaccinated.  Where are these hard earned Covid 19 gains.  This recent wave is not progressing like it has in every other country, how can that be? Does Covid only act differently because TIT.  Reality is a lack of true and transparent testing.  

 

The numbers of those I know that have been vaccinated and boosted and are now sick with Omicron is growing daily.  Sure it is anecdotal evidence but please tell me how everyone else sees it but the Government.

Vaccines remained highly effective at preventing serious illness and death during omicron surge, CDC report says

 

The coronavirus vaccines most widely used in the United States remained highly effective at preventing the worst outcomes from infections even in the face of the highly transmissible omicron variant in January, a report released Friday by federal disease trackers shows.

 

While protection against mild illness waned over time, the mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech provided a robust shield against death and needing mechanical ventilation, the study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

 

The study bolsters confidence in the vaccines to prevent the most serious outcomes for covid-19 patients, even after the omicron variant fueled an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths this winter, said William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who did not participate in the study.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/03/18/coronavirus-vaccine-worked-against-omicron/

 

 

'comorbidities'

There's your most likely culprit, people with poor health die easier it would seem.  See those weasel words I used for the internet ?

4 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

It would also help if more information was made available in the media, in English.  My local government hospital has told me several times to watch thier Facebook page for announcements.  I have been, and next to nothing posted in English about COVID-19 boosters, but much just in Thai.

Or that we start to realize that even the vaccins wont stop Omicron. 

3 hours ago, TropicalGuy said:

Article should state that 25% All Thais are Not Fully Vaccinated and of the 75% who Are, around Half have the rather Ineffective Chinese Vax.

 

In comparison, the West has around SAME 25% Rate of Hardcore / Child Unvaxxed but the 75% Vaxxed have only the far more effective Western Vaccines, enabling England ( not UK) for example to drop all Covid restrictions now.

 

Thailand should do same as this DeltaCron B2 must be spreading almost Entirely Locally  by Thai Resident Population not Foreign Tourists ( All Vaxxed).

Sure, and the vaccinated can not get Omicron???

1 hour ago, peter zwart said:

Sure, and the vaccinated can not get Omicron???

Why is it so hard for some people to understand that there's a big difference between getting omicron and getting seriously ill and/or dying? Why is it so difficult to understand that vaccines are very effective in keeping people from becoming serious ill and/or dying?

"Vaccine holdouts are jeopardizing Thailand’s hard-earned Covid gains"

 

.....and there letting unvaccinated people enter.

 

Stupid.

 

Desperate.

3 hours ago, peter zwart said:

Sure, and the vaccinated can not get Omicron???

 

Vaccines are proven to help prevent hospitalizations and even death.