Thailand defends decision not to join COVAX vaccine alliance

By Orathai Sriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker takes a nasal swab sample from a migrant worker during proactive testing at his work place, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Samut Sakhon province in Thailand, January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai government on Sunday defended its decision not to join the WHO-sponsored coronavirus vaccine programme, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times.

 

The government has been criticised by opposition politicians and protesters for lacking transparency and being too slow in procuring vaccines. While the country of 66 million people has had low numbers of cases and deaths, it is dealing with a second wave of infections.

 

Frontline health workers are to begin receiving 2 million imported Chinese Sinovac shots within a month, but mass vaccinations for the general population are not due to begin until locally produced AstraZeneca doses are ready in June.

 

Government spokesman Anucha Buraphachaisri, responding to media reports that Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country to skip the WHO's COVAX scheme, said that as a middle-income country Thailand is not eligible for free or cheap vaccines under the programme.

 

"Buying vaccines directly from the manufacturers is an appropriate choice... as it's more flexible," Anucha said.

 

"If Thailand wants to join the COVAX program, it will have to pay for vaccines itself with a high budget and there is also a risk," he said, adding the country had to make an advance payment without knowing the source of vaccines and delivery dates. He did not specify the costs.

 

In all, 190 countries including have joined COVAX, which aims to ensure equitable access to vaccines during the pandemic. The scheme is jointly run by the GAVI alliance, the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and UNICEF.

 

Thailand so far has not received or produced any vaccines, even as many of its neighbours have started inoculations.

 

Thailand reported 166 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking its total of infections to 24,571, with a death toll of 80.

 

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Kay Johnson and Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-15

 

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They waited and bet on the wrong horses. Now it is all about FACE, and try as they may to stop the embarrassing story of their failure they have to appear to be self sufficient, which they are not.  This is not looking good, Sinovac, oh brother. Looks like big brother China saves the day as the original Astrazenica 50k vaccines never will make it, and an untested lab may have the vaccine ready by June.  Don't hold your breath, and on top of that the local AO's and private hospitals have been forbidden to source their own vaccines.  Welcome to Thailand 2.0.

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

Buying vaccines directly from the manufacturers is an appropriate choice... as it's more flexible," Anucha said.

Past mid 2022 maybe, until then, we here in Europe and other countries have bought them all, except Sinovac and Sputnik.

39 minutes ago, webfact said:

said that as a middle-income country Thailand is not eligible for free or cheap vaccines under the programme.

Time to put the people before lining your own pockets..

Which is more important, buying vaccines to inoculate the populace, or buying useless submarines ?

We all know what the answer should be, but one makes a lot of money for personal gain, the other doesn't.

Unbelievable, Thailand has had a relatively low rate of infections which is good, but its no excuse for delaying the vaccination of the population to make everyone safer, typical Thailand looking for a cheap deal on vaccine, but larger brown envelopes... 

22 minutes ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

Unbelievable, Thailand has had a relatively low rate of infections which is good, but its no excuse for delaying the vaccination of the population to make everyone safer, typical Thailand looking for a cheap deal on vaccine, but larger brown envelopes... 

 

The problem being that Euro and N. American centric vaccine companies are taking a lesson from what happened to Airbus and Rolls Royce.  Those were painful fines.  So they have to be sneakier about the brown envelopes.   

 

Thailand's politicians can't sign onto standardized, transparent procurement programs AND still get their backhanders.

 

And that's causing delays...

 

Might find paying a bit more for the vaccine before my well prove cheaper to the economy in the long run when your gdp is 20% reliant on tourism

it will have to pay for vaccines itself with a high budget and there is also a risk," he said, adding the country had to make an advance payment without knowing the source of vaccines and delivery dates. He did not specify the costs.

 

They don't want to get rinsed! absolutely priceless ????

3 hours ago, webfact said:

and facing uncertainty about delivery times.

Yes, as it is now it certainly seems they have full control over the delivery times.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai government on Sunday defended its decision not to join the WHO-sponsored coronavirus vaccine programme, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times.

they will create their own much better vaccine anyways. best in the whole universe. 

6 minutes ago, mr mr said:

they will create their own much better vaccine anyways. best in the whole universe. 

A blend of raw Pla Raa, Som Dom and fermented shrimp paste with some sugar. 

All but one country have a vaccination plan!

 

To restart tourism Thailand is going to have to have their own population vaccinated. Not just the tourists who have a vaccination certificate and get a test before flying.There is no way around it, no matter that they have had one of the lowest infection rates in the world.

 

Press releases like the above indicate Tourism in Thailand will not be able to restart until 2022. That is assuming no problems with their own vaccine rollout. If their is, push that date back farther. Hope it all works out for them. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand so far has not received or produced any vaccines, even as many of its neighbours have started inoculations.

They can make all the excuses they want but this is the result of their own complacency, inaction and arrogance. Shame on you Thailand

45 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

They can make all the excuses they want but this is the result of their own complacency, inaction and arrogance. Shame on you Thailand

I think that it is all part of their plan.

Let's give the contract to a company that has never done something like this before, but it is owned by our mates, and that way we can control the money.

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

They waited and bet on the wrong horses. Now it is all about FACE, and try as they may to stop the embarrassing story of their failure they have to appear to be self sufficient, which they are not.  This is not looking good, Sinovac, oh brother. Looks like big brother China saves the day as the original Astrazenica 50k vaccines never will make it, and an untested lab owned by someone special may have the vaccine ready by June.  Don't hold your breath, and on top of that the local AO's and private hospitals have been forbidden to source their own vaccines.  Welcome to Thailand 2.0.

Its all about money as always - 

One submarine... ????

It's typical Thailand. It's a very insular country in many ways. Thaland prefers to do things in its own way and is very protective of its own industries.

 

It's very sad that this type of thinking has been applied to something as important as this.

5 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Time to put the people before lining your own pockets..

Which is more important, buying vaccines to inoculate the populace, or buying useless submarines ?

We all know what the answer should be, but one makes a lot of money for personal gain, the other doesn't.

They don't have the money to buy from the COVAX alliance, it's always been about waiting to get the licence from overseas to produce here. Never mind the wait.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai government on Sunday defended its decision not to join the WHO-sponsored coronavirus vaccine programme, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times.

So glad they avoided the uncertainty about delivery times and got the vaccination program going on Feb 14th per their schedule. 

2 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

To restart tourism Thailand is going to have to have their own population vaccinated. Not just the tourists who have a vaccination certificate and get a test before flying.There is no way around it, no matter that they have had one of the lowest infection rates in the world.

I keep hearing people repeating this idea. On some surface level, this may sound plausible but, actually, it is not at all logical and cannot be how things will play out.

You only need to vaccinate the entire population if you plan to expose them to the virus.

If, instead, the aim is to minimize any such exposure, the best approach is to only allow in people who are:
 

1. Inoculated (by having completed a full course of vaccine jabs at least two weeks before arriving in Thailand).
    
2. Flying on planes only with other inoculated passengers.
    
3. Resident in countries where, thanks to the mass vaccination of at least 75% of the population, the level of active cases is below 0.1% of the population.

At that point, you have tourists who:
 

1. Pose an infinitesimal risk to the Thai population, far less even than the current tourists undergoing the testing and quarantine process.
    
2. Are unlikely to require hospitalization and rack up medical costs if they themselves pick up the virus while in Thailand.

Two realities cannot be avoided:
 

1. Thailand is not going to be able to vaccinate its entire population. Ever.
    
2. The real risk comes not from highly controlled tourists who fly in from richer countries but from the uncontrolled entry of migrant workers from poorer neighboring countries.

Given all the above, there is no reason not to accept properly, verifiably inoculated tourists, regardless of how many of your own population are vaccinated.

 

almost 70 million THAIS.... 80 died in a year

 

does everybody really need an untested rushed vaccine ?

3 minutes ago, donnacha said:

I keep hear people repeating this idea. On some surface level, this my sound plausible but, actually, it is not at all logical.

You only need to vaccinate the entire population if you plan to expose them to the virus.

If, instead, the aim is to minimize any such exposure, the best approach is to only allow in people who are:

A. Inoculated (by having completed a full course of vaccine jabs at least two weeks before arriving in Thailand).

B. Flying on planes only with other inoculated passengers.

C. Resident in countries where, thanks to mass vaccination of at least 75% of the population, the level of active cases is below 0.1% of the population.

At that point, you have tourists who:

A. Pose an infinitesimal risk to the Thai population, far less than the current tourists undergoing the testing and quarantine process.

B. Are unlikely to require hospitalization and rack up medical costs if they themselves pick up the virus while in Thailand.

Two realities cannot be avoided:

1. Thailand is not going to be able to vaccinate its entire population. Ever.

2. The real risk comes not from highly controlled tourists who fly in from richer countries but from the uncontrolled entry of migrant workers from poorer neighboring countries.

Given all the above, there is no reason not to accept properly, verifiably inoculated tourists, regardless of how many of your population are vaccinated.

 

In your view its doable, in the Thai governments view not doable.  They must maintain their control at all costs and if it means destroying tourism 100% they will.

4 minutes ago, Mike Rodik said:

almost 70 million THAIS.... 80 died in a year

 

does everybody really need an untested rushed vaccine ?

So you want to open up the borders and throw caution to the wind. Many are with you, but not this government.

1 minute ago, ThailandRyan said:

In your view its doable, in the Thai governments view not doable.  They must maintain their control at all costs and if it means destroying tourism 100% they will.

No, I said the opposite. Vaccinating their entire population is not doable.
 

3 minutes ago, Mike Rodik said:

almost 70 million THAIS.... 80 died in a year

 

does everybody really need an untested rushed vaccine ?

Vaccine testing generally takes 10+ years (to study long term effects). Do you really want to wait that long? At some point you need to take some risks because of the severity. We can’t live under quarantine for 10 years!

3 minutes ago, donnacha said:

I keep hear people repeating this idea. On some surface level, this my sound plausible but, actually, it is not at all logical.

You only need to vaccinate the entire population if you plan to expose them to the virus.

If, instead, the aim is to minimize any such exposure, the best approach is to only allow in people who are:

A. Inoculated (by having completed a full course of vaccine jabs at least two weeks before arriving in Thailand).

B. Flying on planes only with other inoculated passengers.

C. Resident in countries where, thanks to mass vaccination of at least 75% of the population, the level of active cases is below 0.1% of the population.

At that point, you have tourists who:

A. Pose an infinitesimal risk to the Thai population, far less than the current tourists undergoing the testing and quarantine process.

B. Are unlikely to require hospitalization and rack up medical costs if they themselves pick up the virus while in Thailand.

Two realities cannot be avoided:

1. Thailand is not going to be able to vaccinate its entire population. Ever.

2. The real risk comes not from highly controlled tourists who fly in from richer countries but from the uncontrolled entry of migrant workers from poorer neighboring countries.

Given all the above, there is no reason not to accept properly, verifiably inoculated tourists, regardless of how many of your population are vaccinated.

 

For that to work the entire tourism workforce would need to be vaccinated and the tourists kept in bubbles to avoid contact with the general Thai population. Please remember vaccination does not stop you carrying the virus and passing it on although that is of course vastly reduced.

 

Lets face it, until the general population in Thailand is vaccinated then attempts at luring tourists will just be more plans with little results.

I agree with their decision not to join the CoVAX alliance. It really only benefits low income countries. Being mid income, it is better to procure their own supply. They probably should have decided earlier though!

1 minute ago, donnacha said:

No, I said the opposite. Vaccinating their entire population is not doable.
 

You said and I quote 

 

9 minutes ago, donnacha said:

You only need to vaccinate the entire population if you plan to expose them to the virus.

In Thailands view unfortunately if they open up to travel they feel they will still be inviting the virus inside and thus feel the need to vaccinate the majority of the population.  I do understand what you were trying to say but as I pointed out this government is extremely scared of loosing what little control they have and the supposed success they have had based uponbtheir actions.  That was the point I was making.

5 minutes ago, hioctane said:

Vaccine testing generally takes 10+ years (to study long term effects). Do you really want to wait that long? At some point you need to take some risks because of the severity. We can’t live under quarantine for 10 years!

In this Governments view they will squeeze all they can out of quarantine.