Covid-19 becoming a seasonal bug

A child is vaccinated at Chulabhorn Hospital which is offering free Covid-19 booster shots to those who received vaccinations with or are patients at the hospital. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)
A child is vaccinated at Chulabhorn Hospital which is offering free Covid-19 booster shots to those who received vaccinations with or are patients at the hospital. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

Covid-19 is becoming a seasonal virus in Thailand, primarily active during two periods of the year, experts said.

Yong Poovorawan of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University said on his Facebook page that infections are expected to peak between June and September and November and February.

He said the virus can re-infect a person but is unlike diseases such as measles which, once infected or vaccinated, can build immunity that lasts for life.

Dr Yong said herd immunity cannot end the spread of Covid-19. Though many people have become immune to contracting the virus, the pandemic continues.

He said vaccines will not stop the pandemic.

From Dec 4-10, there were 3,961 new infections, said the Department of Disease Control. Some 107 deaths were reported nationwide during the period. There have been 2,492,054 infections nationwide this year so far.

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Vocabulary

  • active: currently working -
  • herd immunity: when most of a population is immune to an infectious disease -
  • immune (adj): involving the system in your body that produces substances to help it fight against infection and disease - เกี่ยวกับระบบภูมิคุ้มกันโรค
  • immunity: protected from a disease naturally by the body - ภูมิคุ้มกันโรค, ภูมิต้านทานโรค
  • nationwide: throughout a whole country - ทั่วทั้งประเทศ
  • pandemic: a disease that affects almost everyone in a very large area - โรคที่มีการแพร่กระจายหรือระบาดไปทั่ว
  • peak (adj): the time when something is at its highest or greatest level - ช่วงเวลาที่หนาแน่น, ช่วงเวลาที่พบมากที่สุด
  • seasonal: typical of or suitable for the time of year - ตามฤดูกาล
  • vaccinate: to give someone a vaccine, usually by injection (putting a liquid, especially a drug, into a person's body using a needle and a syringe), to prevent them from getting a disease - ฉีดวัคซีน
  • virus (noun): a living thing, too small to be seen without a microscope, that causes infectious disease in people, animals and plants - เชื้อไวรัส
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