OPINION

Vax misinformation

Re: "Silent on autism", (PostBag, Dec 8).

Michael Setter's relentless stream of vaccine fearmongering is equally frustrating as it is wrong. The evidence is unequivocal that vaccines are safe. Let me provide a few, recent, peer-reviewed examples:

A large 2025 Danish study analysed over 1.2 million children, and found no link between aluminium in childhood vaccines and increased risks for 50 chronic conditions, including autism, allergies, and autoimmune diseases.

The roll-out of the HPV vaccine has effectively eradicated cervical cancer. Scottish data shows that after over a decade of HPV vaccination, no cases of cervical cancer have been found among women who received the vaccine as children.

The shingles vaccination reduced the probability of a dementia diagnosis by 3.5% amongst Welsh recipients, amounting to a 20% relative reduction of risk.

A French cohort study of 28 million adults found those who received Covid vaccinations had a 74% lower risk of death from severe Covid-19 and a 25% lower risk of death from any cause.

Vaccines are safe, they save lives and reduce the burden on public health by lowering the incidence of disease. The evidence is clear. Those who shun vaccines face consequences: witness the US, where as of last week, there were 1,912 cases of measles and hundreds in quarantine in South Carolina, compared to a total of 13 measles cases in 2020.

Quick solution

Re: "BoT cracks down on surging baht", (Business, Dec 17).

Here's a suggestion for the BoT to crack down on the surging baht: In addition to the rate cut last Wednesday, announce a bond-buying programme (aka "quantitative easing") to also help push down interest rates.

Currency speculators know that buybacks are financed with newly created baht. The BoT could next announce that all these government bonds bought back will be declared "paid off" (let's call it "quantitative redemption"). This means that Thailand's deficit spending, which was financed by those bonds sold to the public, is instead financed by overt monetary financing, as if the bonds were never sold in the first place.

That announcement would be a bazooka blow to the markets and weaken the baht in 15 nanoseconds.

Not an easy feat

Re: 'Four killed in US strike on 'narco-trafficking vessel,' (World, Dec 18)

First, Venezuela may prove to be even more difficult to fight in than Vietnam due to its size and, thanks to satellites, the days of a D-day style landing attempt would simply result in the loss of military personnel who try. America is also dangerously low on ammunition, so if the conflict is protracted long enough, America might simply run out of various conventional munitions.

It is also likely to be a conflict with high numbers of deaths among American forces, and as South America might be enraged at such unjust actions, it is possible that several other South American military forces might join in with Venezuelan forces, with America finding itself fighting numerous countries at once, for which it is not prepared.

There are some devils you just don't dance with and, while I am no psychic, any of these scenarios could befall shocked Americans, with a possible T-bill shock destroying the US economy perhaps in only weeks.

I pray for my fellow countrymen's souls.