Omicron has peaked but Thailand needs long-term Covid plan: Dr Yong

Dr Yong Poovorawan of Chulalongkorn University said Covid-19 Omicron cases will peak in the rainy season along with other respiratory diseases before starting to fall in September. The wave would subside further in October, in time for the reopening of schools.

However, it was impossible to tell the true number of Omicron cases because most had no symptoms, he added.

Yong also pointed out that vaccines cannot prevent infection but they do reduce the severity of the disease. He cited the US, where the infection rate has stayed level but the number of severely ill Covid patients has fallen.

He said that while previous infection offered natural immunity, hybrid immunity from also getting vaccinated gave more protection.

Meanwhile, the focus of efforts to combat Covid-19 had shifted from vaccine research to identifying how many people in Thailand are infected. Yong said that if 70-80 per cent of the population has already been infected with Omicron, the next dose could be administered next year or when a new variant emerges. Meanwhile, booster jabs were expensive so should be targeted at vulnerable groups.

Looking further ahead to how Thailand can control Covid-19 in the future, Yong said the country had spent a huge amount of money on vaccines in the hope of halting its spread but this was futile. He said Thailand would have to rely on its own knowledge rather than following other countries’ disease-control policies.

Yong said his team would research the infection rate in each age group by checking Covid antibodies from samples of the population in one province. He is currently seeking funding for this project, which is awaiting official approval. Yong said the sampling project was urgently needed as part of Thailand’s long-term plan to control Covid-19.