Thailand s alms-bowl makers live off tourists, not just monks eturbonews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eturbonews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published June 23, 2021, 8:32 AM
BANGKOK, Thailand A Thai medical committee has agreed to shorten the interval between two doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to eight weeks from previously 10-12 weeks, an official said on Tuesday.
The National Communicable Disease Committee has decided to shorten the interval due to possible spread of the Delta variant, Kiattiphum Wongrachit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, said at a press conference.
The number of people in Thailand infected with the Delta variant is increasing, and the variant is likely to replace the Alpha variant as the dominant strain causing infections, local media cited Yong Poovorawan, a senior virologist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, as saying.
Reuters
Asia-Pacific economies are racing to develop home-grown Covid-19 vaccines as supply shortages threaten to upend containment efforts and prolong the pandemic.
Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are all betting on multiple locally developed vaccine candidates after struggling to secure adequate supplies of shots from overseas.
Although locally developed vaccines are unlikely to arrive in time to save sluggish vaccine roll-outs, authorities and scientific experts regard the approach as a longer-term investment.
Many experts expect Covid-19 to circulate indefinitely. It means the emergence of variants resistant to existing vaccines and the potential need for booster shots to maintain immunity could fuel vaccine demand for years to come.
June 2, 2021
Dogs are being trained to detect COVID-19 in Thailand, France, Britain, Chile, Australia, Belgium, Germany, and other countries, and preliminary studies suggest that their detection rate may surpass that of the rapid antigen testing often used in airports and other public places,
The New York Times reports. Cells infected with COVID-19 have a specific scent that dogs can sniff out in seconds, even if the person doesn t have symptoms. For dogs, the smell is obvious, just like grilled meat for us, Dr. Kaywalee Chatdarong, deputy dean of veterinary research and innovation at Bangkok s Chulalongkorn University, tells the
Times. The six Labradors being trained at Chulalongkorn University accurately detect the COVID-19 virus 96.2 percent of the time in controlled settings, university researcher say, and studies have found results almost that impressive in Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
This Week Around the World
share
May 17 Gujarat, India: Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to hit India’s west coast in two decades made landfall on Monday, according to
The Guardian. Over 200,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas in preparation for the impact of the cyclone on Sunday, which had already killed six people before making landfall in India. On May 19, the Indian navy issued a statement announcing they found 26 bodies after searching for a barge that sank in the storm, increasing the number of fatalities to at least 91. The storm comes as India grapples with a second wave of COVID-19 infections. “Our priority is to clear the roads, so there is no impact on oxygen movement,” said Gaurang Makwana, the top official of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat. According to Vijay Rupani, Gujarat’s chief minister, 160 state roads were destroyed in the storm and 40,000 trees were uprooted.