Thai expert concerned new Omicron subvariants may emerge in September
The Nation/Asia News Network
BANGKOK — A neurologist at Chulalongkorn University’s medical school expressed concern on Thursday that new Omicron subvariants may emerge in September and vaccines might not be the only solution.
Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha, chief of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Center, said in a Facebook post that new Covid-19 subvariants are good at evading immunity created by vaccination and natural immunity from previous infections.
He said current infections are now dominated by the Omicron BA.5 subvariant that can evade immunity, so re-infections can occur, increasing the risk of re-infected people getting so-called Long Covid.
Thiravat cited an Imperial College London study published in the journal Science to point out that vaccinations would not be the only solution for emerging subvariants.
Vaccinated people must strictly observe universal Covid prevention measures and the state should provide enough medicine to treat infected people quickly, he advised.
Vaccinations are still necessary, the doctor emphasised, because they can reduce severe symptoms and prevent fatalities.
The general public should receive at least three doses, while those aged 80 and the elderly with comorbidities should get at least four shots, Thiravat said.
He added that booster doses must be mRNA types for better efficiency.
“Mandatory vaccinations must comprise three doses and it will depend on a voluntary basis whether to get more,” the doctor concluded in his Facebook post.
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