Vaccines - Covid 19

[PeteC]

I think this week I'm going to communicate with the US Embassy and see what they say about bringing in vaccine for citizens, like China has done. Can't hurt. I'll post what they reply. Perhaps someone try it with the British Embassy as well.

[Big Boy]

Perhaps someone try it with the British Embassy as well.

It's been done - not their problem.

[PeteC]

That was actually their reply?

[Big Boy]

May not have been their exact words, but something similar.

When I left the UK it was made very clear to me that I should expect nothing in medical support, and I'd be on my own. That was included in my early retirement package, and by my local medical centre.

When we arrived, we discovered one of Mrs BB's tablets was banned in Thailand. We asked my UK medical centre for advice (they had always been very friendly). The response was very short and to the point. We'd moved to Thailand, and they were no longer prepared to advise, even though we'd been gone only a couple of weeks.

[PeteC]

Obviously they don't care at all about any electorate power expats have.

[dtaai-maai]

Reading that article carefully, it seems pretty clear to me that, taken as a whole, it's very positive about the way things are progressing.

An archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles has fully vaccinated about 65% of its population with AstraZeneca and Sinopharm shots, yet weekly new infections increased rapidly this month, with 37% of those patients having already received their two doses.

The surge led authorities to close schools, cancel sporting events and ban household gatherings. Among fully inoculation people, around 60% received the vaccine from Sinopharm and the rest got an AstraZeneca shot.

What it doesn't say is how the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths have been affected, although this is referred to later in the article (see below). Also, you would have thought it possible to determine how many of the 37% of vaccinated infections had been given Sinopharm and how many had received AZ.

What seems clear is that all the approved doses reduce the incidence of people becoming severely ill or dying from the disease — the primary goal of a vaccine. That takes pressure off hospitals and medical resources. Most new Covid patients in the Seychelles, for example, are only experiencing mild symptoms, according to the country’s president.

This is a crucial first step for countries without access to mRNA vaccines, said Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccinologist at the University of Auckland. After using available vaccines to crush the number of severe cases, countries can stamp out remaining infection with shots that curb transmission once they become available.

Another possibility is that vaccination along with the spread of mild cases could also end up building herd immunity, said Ben Cowling, head of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong.

“The places with less immunity against infection but more immunity against severe disease will see circulation of the virus causing mainly mild infections, boosting immunity to a higher level,” he said.

Experts say a lot remains unknown and so-called breakthrough infections — where people who received shots still get Covid — do occur, even with mRNA vaccines. It’s also not yet fully known how well the different kinds of shots perform against the different variants of the virus.

A study conducted in Qatar among some 260,000 people who completed two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine showed the mRNA shot’s effectiveness at preventing infections caused by the South African variant dipping to 75%.

The improvements in the US and Israel came before those places were affected by concerning new strains, which include variants that have emerged in Brazil and India.“I would be careful about over-interpreting the data,” said Petrovsky at Flinders University, who points out that no head-to-head studies — where shots are tested against each other — have been performed to identify the best vaccines.

For the mRNA shots, “data on their effects on transmission is very limited”, he said.

In the end, it may need the development of new, modified versions of the vaccines to finally win the war against Covid, said Petousis-Harris. Some vaccine developers are working on nasal spray inoculations, which can prevent the virus from taking hold in the respiratory tract, thus cutting off infection at its entry point.

“We’ve got some super vaccines that are beyond expectation,” she said. “We’ve learned a lot and so imagine what the next one is going to look like.”

It seems to me that the tone of the article is very positive. There's a way to go yet, but things are looking good. The crucial thing is to GET PEOPLE VACCINATED! Even, perhaps, with Sinopharm, if that's all that is available. (So get a bleedin' move on, Thailand!)

[hhinner]

^^ Sinopharm and Sinovac are NOT the same!

[Osandpo]

Obviously they don't care at all about any electorate power expats have.

Very little! Britain does not allow its citizens to vote if they’ve been out of the country for more than 15 years.

[PeteC]

Private hospitals seek 5m doses of Moderna vaccine

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... na-vaccine

The Private Hospital Association is expected to use Moderna Inc shots for its own inoculation program alongside the government’s mass rollout of AstraZeneca Plc and Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccines.

The group of more than 200 private hospitals is currently reviewing orders from its members and will procure the vaccines through the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Sunday, citing the drug agency. The group is expected to order 5 million doses of Moderna vaccines, she said.

Thailand approved Moderna shots for local use on May 13, making it the fourth vaccine to get the nod from the country’s Food and Drug Administration after Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. The government has so far relied on Sinovac and AstraZeneca in its vaccination drive, and it allows private firms to market alternative shots.

The vaccine rollout began on Feb 28 but the pace has been restricted by a limited supply of vaccines, with just 2.9 million doses administered so far. The government plans to start a mass rollout on June 7 after it’s expected to receive millions of shots, and has set the target of administering 100 million doses before the end of 2021.

[HHTel]

^^ Sinopharm and Sinovac are NOT the same!

I know. 2 companies. Both producing the same kind of vaccine. One being private and the other state owned. Both have faced controversy. Both from CHINA!

However, both Sinovac and Sinopharm have also faced controversy — Sinovac for its bribery case and Sinopharm for supposedly being illegally used by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) of President Rodrigo Duterte.

[HHTel]

Many private/international hospitals have publicly stated that they will not use Sinovac. That gives them an edge in my book.

[handdrummer]

Private hospitals seek 5m doses of Moderna vaccine

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... na-vaccine

The Private Hospital Association is expected to use Moderna Inc shots for its own inoculation program alongside the government’s mass rollout of AstraZeneca Plc and Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccines.

The group of more than 200 private hospitals is currently reviewing orders from its members and will procure the vaccines through the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Sunday, citing the drug agency. The group is expected to order 5 million doses of Moderna vaccines, she said.

Thailand approved Moderna shots for local use on May 13, making it the fourth vaccine to get the nod from the country’s Food and Drug Administration after Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. The government has so far relied on Sinovac and AstraZeneca in its vaccination drive, and it allows private firms to market alternative shots.

The vaccine rollout began on Feb 28 but the pace has been restricted by a limited supply of vaccines, with just 2.9 million doses administered so far. The government plans to start a mass rollout on June 7 after it’s expected to receive millions of shots, and has set the target of administering 100 million doses before the end of 2021.

The population of Thailand is just under 70,000,000, so 100 million private does + whatever the govt. is using should cover all the Thais. As for the rest of us............................

[buksida]

Experts urge more jab variety
Health experts are calling on the government to procure a variety of Covid-19 vaccines for its national vaccination drive to ensure effective protection against the virus' more contagious variants, in light of the detection of a strain first identified in South Africa in the South on Saturday.

The variant known as B.1.351 is known to be the most resistant to vaccines among all known novel coronavirus variants.

Previously, City Hall had sealed off a construction workers' camp in Laksi district, after over 1,000 workers there tested positive for Covid-19. In total, 36 out of the 80 positive samples tested found traces of another highly-contagious strain first found in India.

In a Facebook post, virologist Yong Poovorawan said the coronavirus has now returned in waves to Asia, including Thailand, after it was brought under control in many countries in the region.

The United States, and some countries in Europe such as the UK, which were hit hard by the virus have now contained it after they started vaccine rollouts late last year, said the head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University.

It took them at least four months to bring the virus under control, the doctor said.

The lesson to be taken from Europe and the US is that vaccines must be administered quickly to as many people as possible, Dr Yong said. In the US, it took five months to inoculate 60% of its population and bring the outbreak under control, he said.

Currently, only about 2% of Thais have received vaccine shots, Dr Yong said before stressing the importance to vaccinate at least 70% of the population within four months to contain the virus effectively.

"Blanket vaccinations must be launched to cover as many people as possible, using the AstraZeneca vaccine which is already at our disposal, followed by second shots. We should also try to buy vaccines from other producers because it is necessary to constantly boost immune responses," Dr Yong said.

He also stressed the need to study the possibility of changing coronavirus vaccines.

...

"As for Sinovac, considering the level of immune response [it triggers] after the shot, it is not expected to be effective against the mutated strain.

"It is time for the government to change its policy and speed up the import of Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines to ensure enough supplies for all Thais."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ab-variety

He's preaching to the choir, but the junta appears to have another agenda.

[Big Boy]

How sickening to see the PM rubbing it in by publicly receiving his 2nd jab today. Photos and video seem to be everywhere I look. Meanwhile it remains a dream for most of us plebs to just get a serious registration, let alone an appointment.

[dtaai-maai]

How sickening to see the PM rubbing it in by publicly receiving his 2nd jab today. Photos and video seem to be everywhere I look. Meanwhile it remains a dream for most of us plebs to just get a serious registration, let alone an appointment.

I assume he's seen photos of other national leaders having their jabs and thinks it's good publicity. The difference, of course, is that they are doing it to encourage their citizens to receive the vaccinations they've been offered, whereas in Thailand people are waiting desperately for vaccinations to be made available.