The situation of COVID-19 in Thailand
Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health COVID-19 Situation Report Week 1 of 2023, 1-7 January 2023
- Found 997 new patients admitted to the hospital (average 142 cases/day).
- Compared to the previous week (Week 52/2022), there is a tendency to see a 53% decrease in new cases.
- were 382 pneumonia patients, a decrease of 28%
- 247 intubated patients, 30% reduction
- and there were 58 confirmed deaths (average 8 people/day).
- Most of the deaths were still among the 608 group, reaching 57.
The main cause of death was from
- lack of vaccination or received a single dose of vaccine, 32 cases
- received two doses of vaccine but did not receive a booster vaccine in 16 cases.
- received the last booster vaccine more than 3 months ago, 10 cases
In this number, it will be noticed that those who received the booster vaccine in the last 3 months before illness No deaths were found. Vaccines clearly contribute to the reduction of serious illnesses and deaths.
It is recommended that people receive at least 4 doses of vaccination, especially the 608 risk group, in order to reduce the severity and mortality rate if infected.
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COVID-19 strains
Dr. Suphakit Sirilak, Director-General of the Department of Medical Sciences said that the strain surveillance report on 6 January 2023, the main species found in Thailand is now the omikron subspecies BN.1.3, which is a descendant of BA.2.75, whose ability data Evacuation and spreading fast, similar to XBB.1.5 found in the United States increased.
“XBB.1.5 has similar infectivity to BA.2.75 in Thailand, but is slightly superior in terms of immune evasion. It can easily cause re-infection. But it doesn’t have more powerful power. There was no difference in terms of the severity that caused the patient to become more severe or die faster.”Dr. Suphakit said
Two types of COVID vaccines are
The bivalent (bivalent) vaccine covers the original and BA.4/BA.5 virus strains. It belongs to Pfizer and Moderna. which has been registered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States At the end of August 2022
Pfizer’s 2 strains of COVID vaccine For people aged 12 years and over, Moderna is for people aged 18 years and over. A booster dose can be given 2 months after the last dose of vaccination.
The vaccine can’t catch up with the mutant COVID.
It can be seen that viral mutations occur every day. Until a large number of sub-omicron species emerged. which are both resistant to vaccines and spread faster and less But in terms of causing more severe disease that has not been reported. While the study of vaccine development takes a considerable amount of time. may not be able to catch up with the mutation
Two strains of the COVID vaccine are a mixture of the original and BA.4/BA.5 strains, while the most prevalent virus in the United States is now XBB and in Thailand it is BA.2.75.
Prof. Emeritus Dr. Yong Phu Worawan, Head of the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology Department of Pediatrics Faculty of Medicine Chulalongkorn University Indicates that now there is quite a lot more clear information. that the bi-strain vaccine is no better than the original vaccine (The New England Journal of Medicine, January 12, 2023). The level of immunity compared to the original mRNA vaccine in the booster dose was not much different from the 2 strains.
The efficacy study of the two-strain booster vaccine was compared with the non-boost group. (In the United States, there is currently no single-strain mRNA vaccine.) Two-strain vaccine boosters have been found to Resulting in a 30 – 40+% increase in efficiency compared to the non-injection group (MMWR). Efficacy decreases over time.
Therefore, in the risk group Will not wait for 2 strains of vaccines, if it is time to stimulate, can be stimulated immediately
Thailand has not yet imported 2 strains of COVID vaccines.
Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Said he had received information on medical and academic advice that original covid vaccine With the new item, which is a 2-strain COVID vaccine, the effect of using it as a needle to stimulate immunity is similar. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider importing it to be used as a stimulant needle in Thailand at this time. will definitely not be stuck at him
Dr. Tares Krassanairawiwong Director-General of the Department of Disease Control (Khor.) Giving information that there is currently no need to order additional COVID-19 vaccines. including 2 strains of COVID vaccines Since there are at least 2 studies abroad, it is concluded that neutralizing antibody immunity is no different from the original vaccine that is 1 strain. Therefore, Thailand can use 1 strain vaccine that has been ordered first. In this face the injection is a stimulant to increase immunity.
The results of the bivalent booster study were no different from the previous vaccine.
Two studies in the United States It was concluded that receiving a needle booster with monovalent vaccine and bivalent vaccines boosted immunity was no different.
- The first study, Antibody Response to Omicron BA.4–BA.5 Bivalent Booster, was presented in The NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL of MEDICINE on 11 Jan. 2023.
( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2213907) found that the immune system inhibits the virus (Neutralizing Antibody)
- per strain BA.1 Those who received 4 doses of the 1-strain COVID vaccine (monovalent) were at 2340 titers.
Those who received 3 doses of 1-strain vaccine and received the 4th dose of 2-strain vaccine (bivalent) were at 2133 titer.
- per strain BA.2 Those who received 4 doses of the 1-strain COVID vaccine (monovalent) were at 2956 titers.
People who received 3 doses of 1 strain vaccine and received the 4th booster dose of 2 strains (bivalent) vaccine at 1991 titer
- per strain BA.4 or BA.5 Those who received 4 doses of the 1-strain COVID vaccine (monovalent) were at 1366 titers.
Those who received 3 doses of 1-strain vaccine and received the 4th dose of 2-strain vaccine (bivalent) were at 1649 titers.
- per strain BA.4.6 Those who received 4 doses of the 1-strain COVID-19 vaccine were at 1003 titers.
Those who received 3 doses of 1-strain vaccine and received the 4th dose of 2-strain vaccine (bivalent) were at 1142 titers.
- per strain BA.2.75 Those who received 4 doses of the 1-strain COVID vaccine (monovalent) were at 1628 titers.
Those who received 3 doses of 1 strain vaccine and received the 4th booster dose of 2 strains (bivalent) vaccine at 1385 titers.
- per strain BA.2.75.2 Those who received 4 doses of the 1-strain COVID-19 vaccine were at 274 titers.
People who received 3 doses of 1 strain vaccine and received a booster dose of 2 doses of bivalent vaccine at 345 titers.
and a day later, Dan Barouch and colleagues has published similar study results. Immunoactivity against BA.5 virus was not significantly different after vaccination with 1 strain and 2 strains. There was no difference in both groups.
The study concluded that although a booster with a bi-strain vaccine is likely to have similar effects to a booster with a single-strain vaccine, boosters are likely to be reserved for those likely to require severe disease protection. especially the elderly People with multiple conditions at risk of serious disease and people with immunocompromised conditions
Thai guidelines for vaccination against COVID-19
As for the guidelines for vaccination for COVID-19 in 2023, 2 injections will be given, focusing on the high-risk group first, i.e. the elderly who have not received the vaccine at all, there are about 2 million people, 608 risk groups. Working people have already received at least 3-4 injections of vaccines, confirming more than 20 million doses of vaccines, sufficient for both tourists and Thais. The company will gradually deliver as specified by the Department.