OPINION

Keep on vaxxing

Re: "Prepare for a spike," (PostBag, Oct 27).

Vaccines "teach" a working immune system to protect against the disease. Both Colin Powell (myeloma, a disease affecting white blood cells) and Neil Cavuto (multiple sclerosis, undisclosed heart condition) suffered from severely compromised immune systems.

The elderly and the immuno-compromised make up the majority of breakthough infections. However, these are still minimal compared to infections among the unvaccinated.

Jason A Jellison goes on to mention Ireland's figures for breakthrough infections as if it is surprising, when in fact it is easily explained by the success of a vaccination campaign that has seen 75% of the population fully vaccinated. The key thing to remember is that breakthrough infections do not cause hospitalisation and death the same way infections do in the unvaccinated. The solution to the spread of deadly infections is already available: vaccination. After an admittedly rocky start, Thailand's admirable recent progress in its national vaccination campaign must continue unabated.

Re: "Digital expense," (PostBag, Oct 27).

I suspect Darius Hober is doomed to disappointment with his hopes for a return to a cash economy. Just for starters, the whole online shopping empire is based on credit card payments, and that isn't going away anytime soon. Advance bookings for hotels and airlines can only be made digitally, and it is only a matter of time, even here in Thailand, before all but the smallest businesses adopt debit card touch-and-go payment for in-person shopping.

What a joy it was on a trip back to Australia a couple of years ago, to rediscover the ease of paying for anything from a coffee to purchases up to A$100 (2,496 baht) with a tap of my card. No searching for an ATM; no chasing into shops to break a 1,000 baht note to pay a taxi driver; and no handling used notes and coins that have been who-knows-where.

As Mr Hober points out, that sort of technology comes at a cost, but time saved and convenience more than compensate. Khun Darius also worries justifiably about cyber security issues. I was lucky never to have any criminal intrusion into my banking over many transactions, but I still keep an eye who's behind me whenever I withdraw money at a Thai ATM.

Re: "Report responsibly," (PostBag, Oct 22).

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued instructions on how to count Covid-19 deaths that simply do not reflect who has died directly from catching it: "Anyone that tested positive within the 28 days before death should be recorded as 'died with Covid-19' on the certificate, not 'cause of death: Covid-19'".

The medical reports state what they are told to by the WHO and the media consequently focus on and sensationalise this by ignoring contributing causes of death on certificates. They also report new infection numbers but not how many have been sent to hospital or how many recovered and recovered without hospitalisation in the same time period. You can find some of the figures if you have time to dig for them. Covid caution is still needed and will be for quite some time, as will top-up jabs, but the light at the end of the tunnel is bright. Anti-vaxxers will not matter soon and they will suffer their own fate.