Vaccine-resistant strains in West and China a threat to Thailand: Virologist

BANGKOK - Top virologist Yong Poovorawan has urged the government to take action to defend Thailand against new Covid-19 variants spreading abroad. He spoke out after China announced it will lift travel restrictions on Jan 8, prompting concern among countries and territories worldwide.

So far, Japan, India, Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and the United States have imposed

tighter requirements including negative Covid-19 tests on travellers from China,

where infection rates are soaring. However, Thailand has not tightened rules for Chinese visitors, who were its biggest overseas market before the pandemic struck in 2020.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Dr Yong said the severity of Covid-19 in Thailand has dropped over the past three years as people gained immunity via vaccination and infection.

However, new sub-variants spreading in Europe, the US and China are more resistant to vaccines. Therefore, Thailand needed to know which Covid-19 variant is spreading in each country, Dr Yong said.

While Omicron BA.2.75 is still dominant in Thailand, the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 sub-variants spreading fast in the West have higher vaccine resistance, though they do not cause more severe symptoms than previous strains, he said.

Meanwhile, Omicron BF.7 and BA.5.2 sub-variants found in China are spreading in Japan, said Dr Yong, citing data from Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun published on Dec 26.

He said it would be impossible to prevent the spread of these new strains to Thailand unless all visitors were screened on arrival.

Instead, the best solution is to step up vaccination and hygiene guidelines, and boost public awareness of the different strains and their dangers, Dr Yong said.

Government agencies should also implement guidelines to address different Covid-19 species, their severity and their resistance to immunity, he added. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK