COVID-19 Omicron BA.2 will supersede BA.1 in next two weeks in Thailand

[snoop1130]

A colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (green) heavily infected with Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (purple), isolated from a patient sample, at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. (Photo by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

 

The Thai Medical Sciences Department has predicted that, in less than two weeks, the BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron variant will account for 100% of new COVID-19 infections in Thailand.

 

The department head, Dr. Supakit Sirilak, said today (Monday) that the department conducted a random diagnosis of COVID-19 infections last week and found that the BA.2 sub-variant accounted for 95.9% of new infections, with 4.1% being the BA.1 sub-variant, adding that no BA.3 sub-variant has been identified yet.

 

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He dismissed, as unfounded, a report that BA.2 can evade the immune response generated by vaccines. He said, however, that two doses of vaccine are not enough, as immunity generated by the vaccines will steadily reduce. He recommended third booster jabs of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer for those who have received only two doses to date.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/covid-19-omicron-ba-2-will-supersede-ba-1-in-next-two-weeks-in-thailand/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-04-11

 

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[Caldera]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

He dismissed, as unfounded, a report that BA.2 can evade the immune response generated by vaccines. He said, however, that two doses of vaccine are not enough, as immunity generated by the vaccines will steadily reduce. He recommended third booster jabs of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer for those who have received only two doses to date.

It's not unfounded, as far as merely getting infected is concerned. I know plenty of triple (and some quadruple) vaccinated people here in Bangkok who have caught Omicron recently.

 

What he might mean (but should spell out clearly) is that being boosted offers excellent protection against severe disease and death.

[internationalism]

but BA.2 superseded BA.1 already sometimes ago, when crossed 50%. Now is already 96%. Would be useful to know when this dominance happen.

There is no way for patients to know, which variant they were infected in the past, because this info is not disclosed on recovery certificate. So it's only guessing that they had BA.1 and that there is a risk for them catching the new variant (albeit this risk is low, with antibodies still present).

What I have heard from a hospital nurse, who is also dealing with covid patients, that there is possibility of new infection within a month

 

 

[Falcon]

If infected, what is the timeline to get a booster shot? My wife and son just got positive for covid a few days ago. My wife has had 3 injections already (1 booster) but my son (17) has only had one small dose of Pfizer. He was supposed to go for his 2nd one in 3 weeks but as he has covid positive right now, I think that it’s not possible for him to get another one on that appointment. Anyone know the timelines for sure after testing positive?

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, internationalism said:

There is no way for patients to know, which variant they were infected in the past, because this info is not disclosed on recovery certificate.

And only for a fraction of infected the elaborate "Genomic sequencing" procedure is done.

So simple not known what variant it was for the very most.

Read somewhere that there are only two labs in Thailand (in the Bangkok area) to perform the procedure.

[internationalism]

2 hours ago, Falcon said:

If infected, what is the timeline to get a booster shot? My wife and son just got positive for covid a few days ago. My wife has had 3 injections already (1 booster) but my son (17) has only had one small dose of Pfizer. He was supposed to go for his 2nd one in 3 weeks but as he has covid positive right now, I think that it’s not possible for him to get another one on that appointment. Anyone know the timelines for sure after testing positive?

they say boosters not more often than 3 months.

also after infection jab in minimum 3 months.

some hospitals in thailand say 4 months.

I had my omicron 1 month after a booster. But I had also a hospitalised bacterial lung infection a week after that booster.