Thailand says COVID-19 vaccinations to start next month

By Chayut Setboonsarng

 

FILE PHOTO: Health workers get ready to collect samples for further testing at Thanon Mitr Market, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Bangkok, Thailand, January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand said on Monday it would start its coronavirus inoculation programme next month by administering 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine to high-risk groups, as it faces accusations of being too slow to secure vaccines.

 

"We will start with medical personnel and high-risk individuals and areas," senior health official Sopon Mekton, told reporters.

 

Health workers in Samut Sakhon province, the epicentre of the latest outbreak, would be the first to be inoculated, then elderly and people with chronic diseases.

 

Thailand's food and drug administration last week approved AstraZeneca's vaccine for emergency use but has yet to grant authorisation for that of Sinovac Biotech, of which Thailand has ordered two million doses.

 

Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Monday said AstraZeneca would be supplying 50,000 fewer doses of the vaccine than the 200,000 Thailand had ordered.

 

"With the orders they have at hand, they just confirmed to us, they would supply 150,000 doses," Anutin told reporters, without elaborating, adding Thailand had initially requested one million doses.

 

Thailand has so far recorded only 13,687 infections and 75 coronavirus deaths.

 

The government has been criticised for taking too long to procure vaccines while neighbours in Southeast Asia start vaccinations or race to secure supplies from multiple companies. The government has rejected the criticism.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-25

 

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I hope that with the recent Tanathorn issue, that AstraZeneca follows through with more doses and does not back out of the arrangement.  It sounds like they do not want to be in the middle of the political mess that's been created by this government. I hope it gets rectified and AstraZeneca does not cancel for the reasons stated in an article read two days ago 

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/astrazeneca-has-cold-feet-on-vaccine-plan-due-to-prosecution-of-critic-thanathorn-report/

When Sinovac Biotech gets authorized I'll head to the hospital to see if I can get the vaccine that nobody else wants.

that looks like yet another disaster.

 

"According to sources within the Indian government, the offer to supply the same vaccine, at cost, to Thailand (up to 2 million doses initially) was also presented to Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai but was rejected outright."

"According to local news reports and whistleblower statements from inside the government, Thailand is set to pay up to 60 per cent more per dose for both the SinoVac vaccine and the Astrazeneca vaccine drawing criticisms of corruption and embezzlement from the opposition parties."

https://www.thaienquirer.com/23278/rejection-of-indias-vaccine-offer-adds-to-mounting-concerns-about-thailands-vaccine-program/

 Jam tomorrow. Let's wait and see if the vaccinations do indeed start as predicted. Right now, given the already hopeless track record with predictions like this I'd be inclined to say that I view it with a certain amount of scepticism.

 

Maybe it will, maybe it won't.  Fingers crossed.

Thailand is too slow in rolling out the vaccine. Indonesia has already started.

 

There is a super-spreader party-hopper reported who went to Chiang Mai and Bangkok. I hope the numbers don't increase during the next few weeks.

Watching the Channel 32 news now, and Prayut was not his fiery self but seemed very subdued as he tried to discuss the AstraZenica vaccination program and the chosen bioscience laboratory to make the vaccine on Thai soil, as well as the Les Majeste issue.  I think he has been pinched from both ends now, 

Plenty of time as most European countries are soooooo slooooow it takes them till September-October to vaccinate everybody. (Why??).

 

While Israel is done and dusted vaccinating it's entire population by the end of March. (that's the way to do it !).

1 minute ago, spiekerjozef said:

Plenty of time as most European countries are soooooo slooooow it takes them till September-October to vaccinate everybody. (Why??).

 

While Israel is done and dusted vaccinating it's entire population by the end of March. (that's the way to do it !).

As much as I like to hear positive things said about Israel for a change, they really aren't a typical country to make a fair comparison. It's a very SMALL country both in geography and population and has an excellent health care delivery system. 

11 minutes ago, spiekerjozef said:

Plenty of time as most European countries are soooooo slooooow it takes them till September-October to vaccinate everybody. (Why??).

 

While Israel is done and dusted vaccinating it's entire population by the end of March. (that's the way to do it !).

Coz not get vaccine! Like AstraZeneca promice 90 million dose right away but deliver only 31 million!

Israel have own deal about vaccine and it pay more from dose than EU!

An inflammatory off topic post has been removed. 

This morning in the German press:

 

Setback with corona vaccine: Astra-Zeneca vaccine hardly works for seniors

 

The German vaccination strategy is threatened with a fiasco:

The British-Swedish group's agent is said to be only 8% effective in older people.

 

Berlin, Düsseldorf, Brussels After the controversial vaccination start in Germany , the federal government placed high hopes in the approval of the vaccine from Astra-Zeneca: The preparation of the British-Swedish group is to complement the RNA vaccine from Biontech and Moderna and pave the way for the second vaccination phase level in which people can also get vaccinations from their general practitioners.

 

But the vaccine from Astra-Zeneca , which, unlike the RNA agents, does not require extreme freezing temperatures for storage, could be unsuitable for seniors at risk of corona, of all things:

 

According to information from the Handelsblatt from coalition circles, the federal government only expects an effectiveness of eight percent among the over 65s. It was feared that this vaccine, for which the EU could approve this week, would not come close to the 90 percent effectiveness of the RNA vaccine. The extremely low effectiveness in seniors is a setback for the Berlin vaccination strategy.

 

https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/pandemie-bekaempfung-rueckschlag-bei-corona-impfstoff-astra-zeneca-vakzin-wirkt-bei-senioren-wohl-kaum/26849788.html

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-eu-astrazeneca/update-1-germany-fears-eu-will-not-approve-astrazeneca-vaccine-for-seniors-bild-says-idUSL1N2K024E

Germany fears AstraZeneca vaccine won't get EU approval for those over 65 -Bild

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-astrazeneca-ger-idUSKBN29U2D9

And those of us who have allergies, we don't get a travel passport? If we don't have Injection? 

Way too slow and way too few doses. 

I hope that they realise that February has only 28 days and not 100.

14 hours ago, internationalism said:

that looks like yet another disaster.

 

"According to sources within the Indian government, the offer to supply the same vaccine, at cost, to Thailand (up to 2 million doses initially) was also presented to Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai but was rejected outright."

"According to local news reports and whistleblower statements from inside the government, Thailand is set to pay up to 60 per cent more per dose for both the SinoVac vaccine and the Astrazeneca vaccine drawing criticisms of corruption and embezzlement from the opposition parties."

https://www.thaienquirer.com/23278/rejection-of-indias-vaccine-offer-adds-to-mounting-concerns-about-thailands-vaccine-program/

Apparently last week, Myanmar received 2mill doses of astra zeneca free from india.

where are we! 

13 hours ago, EricTh said:

Thailand is too slow in rolling out the vaccine. Indonesia has already started.

 

There is a super-spreader party-hopper reported who went to Chiang Mai and Bangkok. I hope the numbers don't increase during the next few weeks.

Myanmar started vaccincations...

Maldives almost completed, yes small population.

 

4 minutes ago, mjakob007 said:

Apparently last week, Myanmar received 2mill doses of astra zeneca free from india.

where are we! 

Trying to figure out how to make a profit apparently....yes sarcasm, but else could you expect with trying to find the reasoning this Government does anything.

14 hours ago, connda said:

When Sinovac Biotech gets authorized I'll head to the hospital to see if I can get the vaccine that nobody else wants.

I just wonder why the effiecentcy is 50.4 % when 50% is required to get approval in EU...

(I might be paranoid, but I will be standing behind you

in the queue)

Israel will finish inoculating its population soon.  Thailand, heavily dependent on tourism, hasnt started yet ????

“Reports that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine efficacy is as low as 8% in adults over 65 years are completely incorrect. In the UK, the JCVI supported use in this population and MHRA included this group without dose adjustment in the authorisation for emergency supply. In November, we published data in The Lancet demonstrating that older adults showed strong  immune responses to the vaccine, with 100% of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose.’”

16 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I hope that with the recent Tanathorn issue, that AstraZeneca follows through with more doses and does not back out of the arrangement.  It sounds like they do not want to be in the middle of the political mess that's been created by this government. I hope it gets rectified and AstraZeneca does not cancel for the reasons stated in an article read two days ago 

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/astrazeneca-has-cold-feet-on-vaccine-plan-due-to-prosecution-of-critic-thanathorn-report/

Yes and yes, the Gov make many silly moves, but with covid they have pretty much been way BETTER than most of the World, so YAY to the THAI Government congratulations on keeping our cases and deaths so low compared to nearly everywhere else on the planet. 

Please secure the borders north and south, and keep trying to get more Astra Zeneca vaccines ASAP, the older Thai people first, then everybody else next. 

Look at the absolute mess the USA and UK are presently in! We are so VERY lucky to live in beautiful and SAFE Thailand. ????

Sad that there are so many who want to Hijack an OP and compare it to other countries.  Try and stay on topic as no one who currently lives here could be more concerned about any other place than where we are right now.  Yes it appears to have been some what contained hear, but appearances can be deceiving especially when you are just putting lipstick on a pig to make it look good, like this Government is doing.  Why else charge your citizens for Les Majeste themselves when all they want is clarity on possible corruption occurring with the vaccine procurement and manufacturing arrangement's....

slowly you will see that waiting for a good vaccine will save more lives

When will high-risk expat individuals be offered vaccinations?

Only the Moderna vaccin is effective against UK & South African variants, I just hope this vaccin will be available soon in Thailand. Even if my thai wife can have a free vaccin, I will pay a Moderna vaccin for her.

I dont understand why WHO dont give the right to every countries in the world to start and produce their own production NOW ? (and for free!)

3 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

Apparently last week, Myanmar received 2mill doses of astra zeneca free from india.

where are we! 

Seems to be a competition with China. China was planning to 'give' free batches to some of the same small countries. India is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines, much bigger than China. China's vaccine also barely works.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-myanmar-vaccine/myanmar-receives-first-batch-of-covid-19-vaccines-from-india-idUKKBN29R0ZS

43 minutes ago, Spellforce said:

Only the Moderna vaccin is effective against UK & South African variants, I just hope this vaccin will be available soon in Thailand. Even if my thai wife can have a free vaccin, I will pay a Moderna vaccin for her.

Yes, in the Australian press Moderna is beginning to shape up as the vaccine of choice. If & when it may become available in Thailand, and to expats!, remains to be seen. I'm not expecting to get a shot of anything vaccinewise that's worth the effort & the cost before early 2022 ...

5 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Yes, in the Australian press Moderna is beginning to shape up as the vaccine of choice. If & when it may become available in Thailand, and to expats!, remains to be seen. I'm not expecting to get a shot of anything vaccinewise that's worth the effort & the cost before early 2022 ...

Its expected all the current vaccines will be sufficiently able to fight the UK covid variant, more results out very soon on this. 

 

The more worrying strain however is the South African one, 

 

"Moderna’s vaccine was just as effective against the more transmissible U.K. variant, but there was a six-fold reduction in the neutralizing antibody produced against the South African strain.

 

they are working on the booster shot against the South African variant out of “an abundance of caution.”

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/01/25/moderna-launches-trial-for-covid-19-vaccine-booster-to-tackle-south-african-strain/?sh=3c31de43737b