The COVID-2019 Thread

[harrybarracuda]

Did they really expect anything else?

The Public Health Ministry is considering taking legal action against a number of Covid-19 patients who refused to be transferred to field hospitals for treatment.

The move comes after 74 Covid-19 patients, mostly in Bangkok, opted to stay home. They told the ministry that staying at field hospitals would be inconvenient, deputy public health minister Sathit Pitutecha said.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Sathit said he felt angry when told this.

"Every Covid-19 patient must be taken care of by medical personnel from the Ministry of Public Health at a ministry medical facility, otherwise they violate the communicable disease law.

"The ministry is considering taking legal action against those who have refused to follow ministry regulations," he said.

He said he has obtained information that those patients who refused to be transferred to field hospitals were from the cluster linked to pubs and bars in the Thong Lor area.

They were from well-to-do families. They told the ministry staff that they wanted to stay in private rooms in hospitals only.

He went on to say that it was difficult to predict the severity of symptoms among those who contract Covid-19.

Symptoms could get worse at any time making the risk greater for them if they are not closely monitored by ministry medical personnel.

Mr Sathit pointed to the case of comedian Kom Chuanchen who was recently infected. Early on symptoms were mild and he could communicate normally. But now he is in intensive care with lung problems.

Meanwhile, police on Tuesday summoned two executives of the Krystal Club and Emerald Lounge for questioning on May 3 at Thong Lor police station.

Kiattipong Khamtai and Decha Pilalee are accused of violating the emergency decree and opening the entertainment venues without permission.

Govt to punish patients who reject stays in field hospitals

[harrybarracuda]

Wonder how that will go?

CHON BURI: Up to 2,000 US soldiers are due to visit Pattaya for rest and recreation during the 2021 Cobra Gold multinational military exercise in August.

<snip>

Capt Barker said that during the third phase of Cobra Gold in August, 1,000-2,000 US troops would visit Pattaya for rest and recreation. The seaside resort city was well-known for its amenities, natural beauty and delicious food, he said.

By the time they land in Pattaya, all the soldiers would have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, he said.

[Klondyke]

CHON BURI: Up to 2,000 US soldiers are due to visit Pattaya for rest and recreation during the 2021 Cobra Gold multinational military exercise in August.

As opposed to the recommendation of their Commander-in-Chief:

Please do not travel
US warns against travel to 80% of all countries due to COVID-19

(Or the warning is not binding for some...)

[misskit]

Adverse symptoms in seven Sinovac recipients



THAILAND: Seven people in Thailand have suffered from partial paralysis after receiving CoronaVac, the Chinese-manufactured Sinovac vaccine, a doctor from Chulalongkorn University has said.

Thiravat Hemachudha, director of the Health Science Centre of Emerging Diseases at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of medicine, posted on Facebook yesterday (Apr 21) that six of them were in Rayong and one at the Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital in Chon Buri’s Sri Racha district.


Their conditions improved after doctors administered medication to dissolve blood clots, Dr Thiravat posted. The hospitals had reported their conditions to the Public Health Ministry, he wrote. Their conditions might have been caused by certain lots of vaccines, not by all of the vaccines, he said.

The latest wave of COVID-19 is highly contagious with more severe cases expected in intensive care units (ICU), another doctor from Chulalongkorn Hospital said.


Dr Opass Putcharoen, chief of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital’s Centre of Emerging Infectious Diseases, also posted on Facebook yesterday that the latest wave is more severe than the two previous rounds as has been proven by more than 200 cases at the hospital.

In the first wave of infections, the virus in a patient’s body would decline after seven days. Even though a patient tested positive after a PCR test, the virus could not be cultured, he said. But in the latest wave of transmissions, the virus could still be cultured after 10 days, which means it can remain in the body for longer, Dr Opass said. Unlike previous rounds, an increasing number of young people have suffered from pneumonia, he said.


He went on to say that in the previous rounds, patients at risk of severe symptoms would show signs after seven days of being infected. But in the new wave, they show signs of severe symptoms after less than a week, which requires a quicker diagnosis of pneumonia and the administration of medication, Dr Opass said.

There is more of the virus as well as congestion in the nasal cavity, which leads to an easy spread of the virus, he said, adding that from this week, more severe cases are expected in ICUs.


What happens now is consistent with the information regarding the spread of the UK variant B117 in the UK, Dr Opass said. He said measures to reduce the risk of fatalities include preventing the transmission in communities by trying to achieve a broader distribution of vaccines.


Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, yesterday reported 1,443 new cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the total number of confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic to 45,185. Of the 16,119 patients currently being treated, 223 are severely ill, with 55 on respirators, Dr Taweesilp said.


As for a policy to transfer patients to treatment facilities in Bangkok, the patients are divided into three colour-coded groups. The green group includes people who were detected from active case-finding and were asymptomatic or showed minor symptoms.


The yellow group are patients who have no severe symptoms but have breathing difficulties, with underlying health problems, or weigh over 90 kilogrammes. They will be transferred to hospitals, he said.


The red group are patients who have shortness of breath, with an x-ray examination showing severe pneumonia. They will be transferred to hospitals, Dr Taweesilp said.

Adverse symptoms in seven Sinovac recipients

[misskit]

COVID-19 vaccine distribution


BANGKOK (NNT) - Concerning the speed of Thailand’s COVID-19 vaccination program, almost 700,000 doses out of 1 million doses have been administered in 50 days. The doses were from the first two lots delivered to Thailand in February and March. The Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that the speed of vaccine administration is in accordance with the vaccination program. The third lot, which arrived at the beginning of April, is now being given to frontline medical workers. Members of the public can register for vaccination next month.


Thailand received the first lot of 200,000 doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine and 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine on February 24. The country received the second lot of 800,000 Sinovac vaccine doses on March 22 and the third lot of 1 million Sinovac vaccine doses on April 10. So far, Thailand has received a total of 2,117,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from both Sinovac and AstraZeneca.


The first two lots were distributed to all 77 provinces. The first shot was administered on February 28, and 618,583 doses were administered up until April 18. During the 50-day period, 535,925 people were given their first shots, and 82,658 people received their second shots. The Ministry of Public Health insists that the speed of administration is in accordance with its vaccination program.


Dr. Chawetsan Namwat, Acting Director of the Emergency Disease and Health Hazards Control Division, said


"Our vaccine administration is not slow. The available vaccines are given according to plan. The number is low because we had a limited supply of vaccines initially. Still, we’re able to administer more than our neighboring countries. Vietnam administered 50,000 doses. Cambodia administered 400,000 doses. But if you compare us with Indonesia, it’s conducting joint research with China. Vaccine efficacy is not yet known as many shots were administered. You may not be able to make a comparison. As for Thailand, the main vaccine, AstraZeneca, will arrive in June. Our vaccine administration will certainly speed up."


Concerning the third lot of 1 million Sinovac vaccine doses, the ministry is administering 599,800 doses to frontline medical workers before the end of this month. Another 100,000 doses are being given to people in red-zone areas, particularly Bangkok and surrounding provinces. Meanwhile, 147,200 doses have been allocated to people with congenital diseases, with shots to be given by the hospital holding the patient’s medical records. In addition, 54,320 doses are for police and military officers on the front line and government officials, including Members of Parliament (MPs). They have to meet and interact with the public. The ministry is keeping the remaining 98,680 doses in case of emergencies in various areas.


The AstraZeneca vaccine is the main vaccine selected to inoculate people in Thailand, and it will be ready for use in June. The vaccination plan is divided into two phases, with 26 million doses to be distributed to target provinces in the first phase and 35 million in the second. In the first phase, 6 million doses will be distributed in June, 10 million in July, and another 10 million in August. In the next phase, 10 million doses will be distributed in September, 10 million in October, 10 million in November, and 5 million in December.


About 1,000 public and private hospitals will help administer the vaccines. Major subdistrict health-promoting hospitals in some areas may join the vaccination program to speed up the process.


The general public can register for shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine in June. The Ministry of Public Health will open the Mor Prom (Doctor’s Ready) registration account on the LINE application next month. People who wish to register can also contact local public health officials and volunteers. People with congenital diseases can receive the vaccine at their local hospital.


National News Bureau Of Thailand

[harrybarracuda]

This is rather sad.

A police officer infected with Covid-19 killed himself yesterday at a Bangkok hospital. The Royal Thai Police spokesperson says 59 year old Boonchu Panklin committed suicide due to stress after testing positive for the virus.
The railway police deputy inspector was also diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension. He tested positive for Covid-19 after coming in contact with another patient. At first, Boonchu was asymptomatic and was admitted to a field hospital on Sunday.

The next day, he had difficulty breathing and his blood oxygen levels were low. He was transferred to another building. A police spokesperson has the medical staff did not know about the officer’s mental health issues. On Tuesday, he hung himself in the hospital bathroom. After numerous calls to Boonchu’s phone went unanswered, hospital staff looked for the officer and found him by the toilet with a belt tied around his neck.
The officer’s family needed to quarantine after he tested positive for the virus and the chief of the Pathumwan police station, Pansa Amarapitak, says the officer felt guilty for putting his mother, wife and child at risk of infection.

Police officer infected with Covid-19 commits suicide at hospital | Thaiger

[Klondyke]

EU preparing legal case against AstraZeneca over vaccine shortfalls - sources
April 22, 2021

The European Commission is working on legal proceedings against AstraZeneca (AZN.L) after the drugmaker cut COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to the European Union, sources familiar with the matter said.

The move would mark a further step in an EU plan to sever ties with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker after the company repeatedly cut supplies to the bloc, contributing to major delays in Europe's vaccine rollout.

The news about the legal case was first reported on Thursday by Politico. An EU official involved in talks with drugmakers confirmed the EU was preparing to sue the company.

"EU states have to decide if they (will) participate. It is about fulfillment of deliveries by the end of the second quarter," the official said.

The matter was discussed on Wednesday at a meeting with EU diplomats, the official and a diplomat said. Politico, citing five unnamed European diplomats, reported that a majority of EU countries at the meeting said they would support suing the company.

There was no immediate response from AstraZeneca on Thursday to a request for comment. A spokesman for the European Commission had no immediate comment.

Brussels in March sent a legal letter to the company in the first step of a potential legal procedure read more .

When the deadline for a reply expired this month, a spokesman for the Commission said the matter was discussed in a meeting with AstraZeneca but the EU was still seeking further clarification from the company on "a number of outstanding points".

The spokesman did not elaborate, but details of the letter published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera show the EU was seeking clarification on what it deemed a delayed application to the EU regulator for approval of the vaccine.

Brussels also questioned how AstraZeneca spent over 224 million euros ($270 million) granted by the EU in September to buy vaccine ingredients and for which the company had not provided sufficient documents confirming the purchases.

Under the contract, the company had committed to making its "best reasonable efforts" to deliver to the EU 180 million vaccine doses in the second quarter, for a total of 300 million in the period from December to June.

But the company said in a statement on March 12 it would aim to deliver only one third of that. The EU letter was sent a week after that statement.

Under the contract, the parties agreed that Belgian courts would be responsible to settle unresolved disputes.

The EU has decided not to take up an option to buy 100 million extra doses of AstraZeneca under the contract, an EU official said, after supply delays and safety concerns about very rare cases of blood clots linked to the vaccine .

EU preparing legal case against AstraZeneca over vaccine shortfalls - sources | Reuters

[misskit]

Russia to supply Thailand with Sputnik V vaccine



The agreement came after talks between the two governments as Thailand battles a third wave of Covid-19 that emerged late last month.


Details on the amount of vaccine, price and timeframe for delivery would be determined in future talks between the company importing the vaccine and the Thai Public Health Ministry, Anucha said.


Russia said it was willing to provide vaccine support given its longstanding relationship with Thailand and continually improving relations with Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.


Prayut has instructed the Public Health Ministry to arrange talks in Thailand with the Russian producers of Sputnik V vaccine.


Russia to supply Thailand with Sputnik V vaccine

[misskit]

^ Good thing, too. Hope they hurry it up!



Faulty Sinovac batch suspected after another stroke-like reaction


The vaccine reportedly came from the same batch that caused a similar side effect in six people in Rayong earlier this month.


“The recipient is a nurse at Lampang Hospital who was vaccinated on Wednesday,” said the office’s chief, Dr Prasert Kitsuwanrat.


“About 15 minutes after the vaccination, she showed symptoms of limb weakness, dizziness and vomiting. Her symptoms have improved over time. However, we have suspended use of the batch her vaccine came from, which was designated for 800 recipients.”


Forty other people vaccinated in Lampang on Wednesday were kept overnight at the hospital to monitor their symptoms. Dr Prasert said no allergic reactions were reported among this group, refuting rumours circulating on social media.

“The hospital will now continue vaccinating the rest of the target group as planned,” he added.




A source said that the Sinovac vaccine administered on Wednesday came from a batch with the lot number J202103002 and the serial number 81901420027937950764/10. The source said this was the same lot administered to six recipients in Rayong who suffered a similar “stroke-like” reaction earlier this month.


Lampang has been allotted 1,800 doses of Sinovac vaccine for people in at-risk groups. The province’s first batch of vaccine was administered to 400 medical professionals and 500 health volunteers, with no allergic reactions reported. The nurse’s allergic reaction came after vaccination with the second batch, which began in the province on Wednesday.


Faulty Sinovac batch suspected after another stroke-like reaction

[harrybarracuda]

Fuck me that's like choosing between hanging or electrocution innit

[taxexile]

its probably fake vaccine bought from lazada and made from bat juice and fish sauce.

[misskit]

Fake Pfizer vaccine shots on sale in Mexico and Poland

US drugmaker Pfizer confirmed that suspect doses of its coronavirus vaccine that were seized in Mexico and Poland were indeed fake, with doses going for as much as $1,000 a shot, according to US media.


“We are cognizant that in this type of environment, fueled by the ease and convenience of e-commerce and anonymity afforded by the internet, there will be an increase in the prevalence of fraud, counterfeit and other illicit activity as it relates to vaccines and treatments for Covid-19,” a Pfizer spokesperson told ABC News.


At a clinic in Mexico some 80 people received fake doses of the drug, which appeared to have been physically harmless, though offering no protection against the potentially deadly disease, a report in the Wall Street Journal said.


The vials were found in beer coolers and were initially identified by fabricated lot numbers and expiration dates, Mexican officials said.


The liquid in the confiscated vials in Poland was a cosmetic substance, thought to be anti-wrinkle cream, the company said.


In February, health authorities in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon warned about “clandestine” sales of “alleged Covid vaccines” and urged people not to take them.


In March, the World Health Organization also warned of “falsified” Pfizer vaccines found in Mexico and warned that the shots “may still be in circulation in the region.”


Pfizer tested the fake vials and found they did not contain the two-shot vaccine it developed with BioNTech.


Lev Kubiak, Pfizer’s head of global security, said the desperate need and the shortfall in vaccines had led to the scams.


“We have a very limited supply, a supply that will increase as we ramp up and other companies enter the vaccine space. In the interim, there is a perfect opportunity for criminals,” he told the Wall Street Journal.


Mexico is also examining a shipment of 6,000 doses of what is claimed to be the Russian vaccine Sputnik that was seized on a private plane headed for Honduras last month, the newspaper said.


Fake Pfizer vaccine shots on sale in Mexico and Poland | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[strigils]

Well, given the slower rate of vaccine rollout in third world countries with large populations this was always on the cards, a melting pot for variants.

India hits global record of 315,000 daily new Covid cases as crisis worsens

Hospitals pushed to brink after more than 1 million people infected in four days

India has registered a record-breaking single-day tally of new Covid cases as a severe shortages of beds and oxygen hit Delhi hospitals and migrant workers made an exodus from the capital.


Its total of 314,835 cases over the previous 24 hours is the highest number of infections recorded in a day in any country since the start of the pandemic.


The unprecedented spread of the virus, blamed on a more contagious strain as well as lax safety measures, has pushed hospitals to the brink. Social media are flooded with desperate pleas from people whose relatives are sick but have been repeatedly turned away from wards.


“We as the doctor, we the hospital, we are supposed to give life,” said Sunil Saggar, the chief executive of Shanti Mukand hospital in Delhi, breaking down as he spoke to local media. “If we cannot give them oxygen even, what is the situation? The patient will die.”


Outside his hospital a sign read: “We regret we are stopping admission in hospital because oxygen supply are not coming.”


Delhi’s deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, accused neighbouring states of blocking oxygen supplies from reaching the city, and warned in a televised address: “It might become difficult for hospitals here to save lives.”


In Maharashtra state in western India, at least 24 Covid patients died on Wednesday when the oxygen supply to their ventilators ran out due to a leak. The state, which accounted for the majority of new cases announced on Thursday, tightened its lockdown late on Wednesday night, stating that travel by private vehicles would be permitted only for medical emergencies, and that only health workers and government employees may use the train system.


“Covid-19 has become a public health crisis in India leading to a collapse of the healthcare system,” Krutika Kuppalli, an assistant professor at the division of infectious diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina in the US, said on Twitter.


A total of 2,104 deaths were registered on Wednesday, a record high for India, which has overwhelmed crematoriums. One crematorium east of Delhi was forced to build funeral pyres in its parking lot to cope with demand.


Delhi’s migrant workers, who fear a prolonged lockdown in which they are left stranded with no income, are leaving en masse, despite reassurances by the city’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, earlier in the week, who pleaded for them to stay.


“We did not want to get caught in the lockdown of Delhi like last time. If we were afraid of corona and stayed in Delhi, then I believe our family would have died of debt and hunger,” said Pooja Kumari, 30, who was travelling with her family back to her home village in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.


Unlike last year when train and bus services were suspended, forcing millions of people to walk for days to reach their home villages, transport is still running. Campaigners say bus services are struggling to cope with the exodus, however, and ticket prices have rocketed. On Tuesday an overcrowded bus that was carrying migrant workers from Delhi to Madhya Pradesh overturned in Gwalior, killing three people and injuring 12.


“Anyone who goes to these major bus terminals or railway stations will have a picture of the degree of strandedness that there is,” said Shreya Ghosh, of the Migrant Workers Solidarity Network (MWSN).


Migrant workers feared losing their livelihoods and being unable to cover the cost of rent and food in big cities, said Richa Prasant, the founder of the Sunaayy Foundation, which supports migrant workers. “They also feel if there is an issue in the healthcare system then priority won’t be on them. At least [in their home areas] they have a support system.”


Prior to Thursday, the record for the highest number of daily cases registered anywhere in the world was 300,310, set by the US on 2 January. Since the start of the pandemic, India has recorded 15.93m cases, including more than 1m in the past four days.


“We never thought a second wave would hit us so hard,” Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the executive chairman of Biocon & Biocon Biologics, an Indian healthcare firm, wrote in the Economic Times. “Complacency led to unanticipated shortages of medicines, medical supplies and hospital beds.”


Health experts say the country relaxed safety measures too quickly, wrongly assuming the virus had disappeared. Weddings and huge festivals were allowed to go ahead, while Modi addressed packed political rallies for local elections.


India has so far administered nearly 130m doses of vaccine, the most in the world after the US and China. Yet, with a population of 1.38 billion, this still means only 8% of people have received at least one vaccine.


The government had planned to offer vaccines, currently available to frontline workers and people aged over 45, to all adults from next month. However, supplies are running low in many states, and the Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine, has downgraded its production forecasts. It had planned to raise its monthly output to 100m doses from the current 60m-70m late in May, but now expects this will not be possible until July.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/22/india-hits-global-record-of-315000-new-daily-cases-as-covid-wave-worsens

[lom]

EU with ~450 million inhabitants has now secured delivery of 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's covid-19 vaccine according Reuters, citing an anonymous source within the EU.

This is the third contract signed between EU and Pfizer / Biontech.

China, Russia, and England you can keep your crap vaccine.

[harrybarracuda]

EU with ~450 million inhabitants has now secured delivery of 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's covid-19 vaccine according Reuters, citing an anonymous source within the EU.

This is the third contract signed between EU and Pfizer / Biontech.

China, Russia, and England you can keep your crap vaccine.

Have you had a jab yet?

[lom]

Have you had a jab yet?

Nope, June earliest but I may wait longer depending on which vaccine I'll be offered.
May go to a private hospital and pay for a good vaccine instead.

[misskit]

India breaking its own record daily. Good grief.

India'''s second wave: Country reports over 330,000 new cases

[misskit]

Indian Super Rich Flee World’s Worst COVID Outbreak on Private Jets

Eight private jets carrying India’s super wealthy—and potentially the coronavirus—landed in London ahead of the U.K.’s 4 a.m. ban on travel from India, according to the London Times. The U.K. added India to its “red list” of pandemic-stricken countries. As of Friday, any Britons returning from India must quarantine for ten days in a government-approved hotel. All non-British or non-Irish citizens will be banned entirely from entering the country if they have been in India in the previous 10 days. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to cancel his own state visit to India scheduled for next week as a “precautionary measure.”


The last of the luxury airliners to arrive, VistaJet Bombardier Global 6000, which left Dubai Thursday to collect passengers in Mumbai, landed at 3:15 a.m., just 44 minutes before the restrictions took place.


The private jet passengers were fleeing unimaginable horror back home. At least 14 COVID-19 patients perished in a devastating fire that ripped through an ICU ward in one of India’s overcrowded hospitals about 70 miles outside Mumbai. The fire that broke out around 3 a.m. Friday morning was contained and extinguished, but not before 14 patients—many who were intubated and hard to evacuate—had died. “Around 90 patients were admitted to the hospital at the time of the incident,” Dilip Shah, the head of the Vijay Vallabh Hospital where it happened said in a statement Friday.

MORE Indian Super Rich Flee World’s Worst COVID Outbreak on Private Jets

[harrybarracuda]

Mother nature is indulging in a bit of a cull eh?

[Klondyke]

This is the third contract signed between EU and Pfizer / Biontech.

Why not to trust them? Wasn't it Pfizer who was sentenced to pay a record amount of fraud settlement few years ago? (not sure whether they did pay...)

Cannot imagine if another vaccine manufacture would have such history...

[tomcat]

[harrybarracuda]

Quite meaningful really. Canada has vaccinated 1.1m and 5 of them had clots.

One person has come forward to state this his father is one of them (had a stroke).

He is

Over 55
Obese
Has Cancer
Has Diabetes

I think if you are going to toss the Covid coin you're probably better off hoping the Vaccine side comes up.

[Buckaroo Banzai]

The J&J vaccine is back in play.
"CDC panel recommends U.S. resume use of J&J Covid vaccine, saying benefits outweigh risks


PUBLISHED FRI, APR 23 20214:51 PM EDTUPDATED FRI, APR 23 20216:28 PM EDT"
J&J Covid vaccine: CDC panel recommends resuming use

-This is good news , since the US has announced that they have enough Pfizer, and Moderna vaccine to vaccinate every American and that the J&J vaccine should be released to other countries as part of a "Vaccine Diplomacy"

"Federal officials say they have enough doses from Pfizer and Moderna to vaccinate all American adults. But officials are hopeful that J&J can iron out its problems and still be of use for booster shots down the line, and for immunization in other countries as the U.S. ramps up its vaccine diplomacy. "
White House writes off Johnson & Johnson vaccine after string of production failures - POLITICO

[misskit]

Israel records ZERO daily Covid deaths for first time in ten months as it closes hospital coronavirus wards with more than 80% of adults vaccinated

Israel records ZERO daily Covid deaths for first time in ten months | Daily Mail Online

[Edmond]

India hits global record of 315,000 daily new Covid cases as crisis worsens

Hospitals pushed to brink after more than 1 million people infected in four days

Was pretty obvious to all from the beginning that India was going to end up being an absolute shit-show.

A million in 4 days... Wouldn't fancy being the head of the Indian Tourism Authority when it comes to tourist predictions.


Also don't fancy taking these vaccinations. Would rather get Covid and get it fokin' over with.