Covid-19 News & Updates

[buksida]

Here is the report on the dodgy Chinese vaccine that the govt is buying ...

Poor Sinovacs results in Brazil raises questions about the Thai government
Data just in from Brazil shows the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine to be far less effective than claimed by Beijing, raising serious questions about the Thai government’s decision to invest heavily in the Sinovacs jab, with the first doses due to arrive in February.

According to the Brazil-based Butantan Institute, a late-stage trial showed that the efficacy rate of the vaccine was around 50.4 per cent, much lower than the rates needed to establish and maintain herd immunity in a given population. The silver lining was that the virus was effective in lowering the number of serious cases of Covid-19.

The new verified results from Brazil raises serious questions over the Thai government’s purchasing of 2 million doses of the vaccine and draws into question the government’s relationship with the Chinese government.

Did the Prayut Chan-ocha administration and Anuthin Charnvirakul, the Minister of Public Health, do any research about the vaccine before the purchase agreement was made?

Did they readily accept the results from the Chinese company/government without batting an eyelid?

If the latter is true, then the symbiotic relationship between the military-backed government in Thailand and the Chinese communist party has now taken precedence over the well-being of the Thai people.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/22811/opin ... overnment/

[PeteC]

Does Thailand know what it's buying? If that's what will be on offer here and the numbers are correct, I'll wait for a different brand to arrive.

Sinovac: Brazil results show Chinese vaccine 50.4% effective

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55642648

A coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac has been found to be 50.4% effective in Brazilian clinical trials, according to the latest results released by researchers.

It shows the vaccine is significantly less effective than previous data suggested - barely over the 50% needed for regulatory approval.

The Chinese vaccine is one of two that the Brazilian government has lined up.

Brazil has been one of the countries worst affected by Covid-19.

Sinovac, a Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company, is behind CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine. It works by using killed viral particles to expose the body's immune system to the virus without risking a serious disease response.

Several countries, including Indonesia, Turkey and Singapore, have placed orders for the vaccine.

Last week researchers at the Butantan Institute, which has been conducting the trials in Brazil, announced that the vaccine had a 78% efficacy against "mild-to-severe" Covid-19 cases.

But on Tuesday they revealed that calculations for this figure did not include data from a group of "very mild infections" among those who received the vaccine that did not require clinical assistance.

With the inclusion of this data, the efficacy rate is now 50.4%, said researchers.

But Butantan stressed that the vaccine is 78% effective in preventing mild cases that needed treatment and 100% effective in staving off moderate to serious cases.

The Sinovac trials have yielded different results across different countries.

Last month Turkish researchers said the Sinovac vaccine was 91.25% effective, while Indonesia, which rolled out its mass vaccination programme on Wednesday, said it was 65.3% effective. Both were interim results from late-stage trials.

There has been concern and criticism that Chinese vaccine trials are not subject to the same scrutiny and levels of transparency as its Western counterparts.

Both the Sinovac vaccine and the vaccine developed by Oxford University and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca have requests for emergency use authorisation pending with regulators in Brazil.

The latest news comes as Brazil is dealing with a major spike in cases. The country currently has the third highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world at over 8.1 million, just behind the US and India.

The BBC World Service's Americas editor Candace Piette says the country is suffering one of the world's deadliest outbreaks but as yet, has not announced when its vaccination programme will begin.

The delay has been caused in large part by the government's haphazard and divided approach to vaccination, says our correspondent.

[HHTel]

To put it into perspective, the efficacy of the Chinese vaccine is no worse than the 'flu shot.

While vaccine effectiveness (VE) can vary, recent studies show that flu vaccination reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to the flu vaccine.

The 2020 VE for the 'flu shot was 52%. An improvement on 2019.

Once they've figured out the length of 'immunity' this vaccine will give, I'm sure it will have to be modified regularly to cope with the ever mutating life of Covid. Just as the 'flu shot has to go through annual 'adjustments'.

[Big Boy]

Today's Brief:

[handdrummer]

Here is the report on the dodgy Chinese vaccine that the govt is buying ...

Poor Sinovacs results in Brazil raises questions about the Thai government
Data just in from Brazil shows the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine to be far less effective than claimed by Beijing, raising serious questions about the Thai government’s decision to invest heavily in the Sinovacs jab, with the first doses due to arrive in February.

According to the Brazil-based Butantan Institute, a late-stage trial showed that the efficacy rate of the vaccine was around 50.4 per cent, much lower than the rates needed to establish and maintain herd immunity in a given population. The silver lining was that the virus was effective in lowering the number of serious cases of Covid-19.

The new verified results from Brazil raises serious questions over the Thai government’s purchasing of 2 million doses of the vaccine and draws into question the government’s relationship with the Chinese government.

Did the Prayut Chan-ocha administration and Anuthin Charnvirakul, the Minister of Public Health, do any research about the vaccine before the purchase agreement was made?

Did they readily accept the results from the Chinese company/government without batting an eyelid?

If the latter is true, then the symbiotic relationship between the military-backed government in Thailand and the Chinese communist party has now taken precedence over the well-being of the Thai people.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/22811/opin ... overnment/

Has there ever been question about Thailand's symbiotic relationship with China? A majority of the wealthy and the rulers of this country are of Chinese origin and the Thais always know which side of the bread to butter. Germany, Japan, US, China.

[buksida]

7-ELEVENS NOW INCLUDED IN CITY HALL’S CORONAVIRUS TIMELINE
The Bangkok City Hall appears to have ended its controversial policy of omitting the mention of convenience stores owned by an influential conglomerate in its travel history of coronavirus patients.

A travel timeline of an infected student published by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration now includes mentions of 7-Elevens at MBK and Victory Monument. A health official from the City Hall previously told Khaosod English that the convenience store chain operated by CP All wasn’t included in its timelines due to fears of possible legal action – a revelation that prompted much criticism online.

The unnamed student, who was dubbed “Patient 293,” reportedly visited 7-Eleven stores at Victory Monument and MBK shopping mall multiple times from Dec. 15 to Dec. 26. He later tested positive for the coronavirus on Jan. 4, after losing a sense of taste and smell.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri ... -timeline/

[Big Boy]

Today's brief:

[Big Boy]

Doesn't it give you a warm feeling knowing Thailand's finest are on the case

The Royal Thai Police is to investigate 33 police officers and state officials suspected of negligence, and aiding and abetting illegal labour smuggling.

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas said on Thursday that an initial probe had found 33 officials to be involved in smuggling migrant workers across the Thai-Myanmar border in Kanchanaburi's Sangkhla Buri district.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... implicated

[Big Boy]

Today's Brief:

[buksida]

Police seek first warrants over outbreak
Police are seeking arrest warrants against eight civilians suspected of being involved in the smuggling of illegal Myanmar labourers into Samut Sakhon province where the reemergence of Covid-19 on Thai soil first struck, according to deputy national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas.

In addition, an investigation will be initially be launched into 20 police officers suspected of being complicit in the crime, which has been pinpointed as cause of the outbreak.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... r-outbreak

Maybe the 'police' should look closer to home? Or at the govt officials that have benefitted from people smuggling? Or at the wealthy owners of the places that employ undocumented migrants? Thailand loves a scapegoat.

[Big Boy]

In today's Daily Brief Khun Natapanu from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states, "According to the Labor Ministry, there is no necessity at the moment for foreigners to have a COVID19 test done before they renew or apply for a work permit. However, this could change next month. "

[Edit] Thoughts....... visa renewals next, followed by no vaccine, no renewal.

[Big Boy]

Today's Brief:

[buksida]

[Edit] Thoughts....... visa renewals next, followed by no vaccine, no renewal.

They're going to be stinging for money this year after all the handouts and the decimation of the tourism industry so, yes, any opportunity to fleece the remaining few foreigners that remain in the country will be jumped upon with zeal. There will be a lot of new ideas from the ministry of stupidity in 2021.

[Big Boy]

In today's Daily Brief Khun Natapanu from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states, "According to the Labor Ministry, there is no necessity at the moment for foreigners to have a COVID19 test done before they renew or apply for a work permit. However, this could change next month. "

[Edit] Thoughts....... visa renewals next, followed by no vaccine, no renewal.

I'm reading now, according to this document published in the Royal Gazette, the Immigration law for Section 12 (4) and Section 44 (2) has been changed to include the need for the foreigners to have a COVID19 test done in order to stay in Thailand.

This was published in the Royal Gazette on 25th December 2020. The part that is underlined says it will become law 30 days later. So, that is then 25th January 2021. The week after next.

letter.jpg (25.93 KiB) Viewed 630 times

[HHTel]

Do we know how that's going to operate. Covid test to renew, Covid test for 90 day reports etc etc. Does that include foreigners who have lived here for years. If that's the case, then all Thais should be tested too.

Another money making scam.