The Thai Ministry of Public Health has adjusted the timing for the administration of the second dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, from 10 weeks after the initial injection to 16 weeks, so that the supply of vaccines can be distributed more widely, said Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Kiatiphum Wongrajit today (Monday).

 

The announcement followed questions raised after several hospitals have postponed the appointment for the second jab.

 

Stressing the need for wider distribution of vaccines to members of the public, to reflect the changing situation, Dr. Kiatiphum said that those who receive the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in June will receive the second dose in October.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/2nd-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-to-be-given-16-weeks-after-1st-dose-not-10/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-05-24

 

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It does seem AZ Vaccine has an abnormally long gap between doses but not sure about 4 months?

Edited May 24, 20215 yr by wasabi

What a mess. Farang can forget about it untill the end of the year 

I thought WHO recommended that the 2nd dose should be administered upto 12 week from receiving your 1st jab..... 

Oh, I forget  Thailand is different from the rest of the world.... 

A total shambles from the beginning..... 

That will be a lengthy delay for those who want to travel but require both jabs on arrival. Phuket for example, not that I am planning to go there.!                                    

Edited May 24, 20215 yr by pontious

Its more important that everyone gets the first vaccine than some get both... 

 

So, from that perspective the announcement makes sense. 

 

But.....  Just ensure there are sufficient doest with adequate distribution to ensure everyone has both doses with the correct internationally recognised time frame. 

 

Why does Thailand have to go about everything in such a half arsed way then make these announcements as if its ok ??? 

 

A consistent reminder of the juvenile approach to accountability of those in charge. 

I think this only applies for the free <deleted> from China and AZ. Does anyone but me think this whole vaccination debacle has to do with corruption at some level.

Has anyone seen tape of the production facility in Bangkok? It was supposed to be up and running weeks ago. Haw many AZ doses roll out of there daily? asking for a friend.

Paying patients should have plenty of supply by September or October.

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its more important that everyone gets the first vaccine than some get both... 

 

So, from that perspective the announcement makes sense. 

 

But.....  Just ensure there are sufficient doest with adequate distribution to ensure everyone has both doses with the correct internationally recognised time frame. 

 

Why does Thailand have to go about everything in such a half arsed way then make these announcements as if its ok ??? 

 

A consistent reminder of the juvenile approach to accountability of those in charge. 

"Its more important that everyone gets the first vaccine than some get both..." 

 

Your assuming there will be enough left over for a second dose. 

 

 

but the PM just today had his second dose, that is after 9 weeks.

there is a  serious delay with AZ locally made.

There suppose to be in May 1.7mln initial production, but now postponed.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/27859/hospitals-postpone-covid-jabs-amid-delays-in-domestic-astrazeneca-production/

The delayed dosing was to be expected and will be the norm for the world going forward. 

The new research suggests that the first dose  primes the immune system, allowing it to start making protective antibodies against the virus. The longer that response is allowed to mature, the better the reaction to the second booster shot.  Do not look for sinister intent when there is none. As was mentioned earlier, getting first dose to as many people as fast as possible will slow and even stop spread of the disease.

 

57 minutes ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

I thought WHO recommended that the 2nd dose should be administered upto 12 week from receiving your 1st jab..... 

Oh, I forget  Thailand is different from the rest of the world.... 

A total shambles from the beginning..... 

 

If you are following the news you will see  that UK and Canada adopted this strategy. UK is taming its epidemic and Canada has managed to give first  dose to 50% of population and is slowly beating back the disease. UK and Canada have shown the strategy works and delivers relatively fast benefits.

 

45 minutes ago, madmen said:

"Its more important that everyone gets the first vaccine than some get both..." 

Your assuming there will be enough left over for a second dose. 

 

It was a reasonable expectation. The mRNA vaccine makers should have 3-4 billion does available over the next 12 months. Add to this the Oxford vaccine manufacturers from around the world and there will be another 3-4 billion doses available. The issue will be how to get vaccine into the arms of people.

 

To announce this on the same day that the PM gets his 2nd dose at 9.6 weeks. 55555. Way to go Anutin! ????

just got my first dose (moderna / not in thailand).

2nd dose is scheduled exactly in 16 weeks. 

so it's not just thailand doing this. 

Yes, this is B.C., Canada's dosing interval: COVID-19 vaccine doses will be administered 16 weeks apart in B.C.

 

However it's a compromise that could have been avoided.

More and more countries are doing this.  It's been proven that the response after 12-16 weeks is perfectly acceptable and even better than after 3 weeks.  Plus it gets more people protected.

Thailand is doing some things right.

The extension of the interval to 16 weeks is largely motivated by availability: Stretch interval between COVID-19 vaccine doses up to 4 months, national advisory committee recommends

 

Moderna's official comment:
We're in times of pandemic and we can understand that there are difficult decisions to be made. This then becomes a government decision. We stand by the product monograph approved by Health Canada, but governments ... can make their own decisions.

 

3 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

If you are following the news you will see  that UK and Canada adopted this strategy. UK is taming its epidemic and Canada has managed to give first  dose to 50% of population and is slowly beating back the disease. UK and Canada have shown the strategy works and delivers relatively fast benefits.

UK adopted the 12 week strategy for the same reason that Thailand has adopted the 16 week strategy.

 

As of today, 72% of UK adults have received at least 1 dose and 43% have received 2 doses.

 

They have now revised their strategy and are administering the 2nd dose after 8 weeks.

16 weeks is beyond the European Medical Agency approval interval. 16 weeks has not been through medical human trials as of yet - so it's in the lap of the Gods as to it working or not.

 

But, by the time I can get on a plane to Thailand to get back to the family, I fully expect a third UK booster jab.

"Members of the public, to reflect the changing situation" or just the usual situation of complete BS ????

Thailand to extend dose gap for AstraZeneca vaccine to 16 weeks

 

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker holds a bottle of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng/File Photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will extend the gap between the first and second doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to 16 weeks, in an effort to inoculate more people faster, a senior health official said on Monday.

 

The plan follows a similar decision by Spain to stretch the gap between two AstraZeneca doses to 16 weeks, which is beyond the 12 weeks maximum interval approved by the European Medicines Agency. A 16-week interval has not been tested in human trials.

 

Thailand's change, from a 10-week gap previously, comes ahead of the planned start of a mass immunisation campaign from June, for which AstraZeneca's vaccine will be the main one used.

 

"This is to increase the number of people who get vaccinated," Kiattiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary of the health ministry, told Reuters, adding it would help create herd immunity faster.

 

Thailand has since the start of April been grappling to contain a third wave of coronavirus infections, with its latest outbreak accounting for about 80% of its total 132,213 cases and 806 deaths.

 

Thailand will focus on administering the first of two AstraZeneca doses between June and September, Kiattiphum said.

 

It previously said it aimed to vaccinate 70% of its population by September to achieve herd immunity.

 

The national vaccine strategy relies almost entirely on AstraZeneca vaccines, the majority of which it said would be produced by a local firm owned by the country's king.

 

Authorities said the first six million of 61 million doses are expected to be available in June.

 

Thailand has so far administered at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 1.94 million people, including healthcare and frontline workers, using AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-05-25

 

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Interesting tactic trying to catch up with other countries in the vaccine race.

 

Only problem that the immune response isn't equal after shot#1 &#2, 

Will result a false sense of safety in ppl whereas by the 16th week many case the efficiency of the first shot will come very close of those village temple Buddha amulets...

39 minutes ago, tingtong said:

Interesting tactic trying to catch up with other countries in the vaccine race.

 

Only problem that the immune response isn't equal after shot#1 &#2, 

Will result a false sense of safety in ppl whereas by the 16th week many case the efficiency of the first shot will come very close of those village temple Buddha amulets...

 

 

Delaying the 2nd dose of AZ can actually be beneficial:

 

Quote

 

The U.K.’s decision to delay the second shot of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford coronavirus vaccine has been found to be an effective strategy, according to a new study.

 

Oxford researchers found that the Covid vaccine was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose, and in fact that the efficacy rate rose with a longer interval between the first and second doses.

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/delaying-second-astrazeneca-vaccine-dose-does-work-study-shows.html

 

 

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its more important that everyone gets the first vaccine than some get both... 

 

So, from that perspective the announcement makes sense. 

 

But.....  Just ensure there are sufficient doest with adequate distribution to ensure everyone has both doses with the correct internationally recognised time frame. 

 

Why does Thailand have to go about everything in such a half arsed way then make these announcements as if its ok ??? 

 

A consistent reminder of the juvenile approach to accountability of those in charge. 

 

And a regular, almost daily reminder of how poor the Thai education system is.

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Why does Thailand have to go about everything in such a half arsed way then make these announcements as if its ok ??? 

priority one - into pocket

 

priority two - keep in pocket 

 

every deal done has a margin to self enrich

 

the process starts by approving a budget of public money - defence budgets are popular, China is the preferred supplier because they are flexible with the numbers

Of course this is nothing to do with the delays in production at Siam Bioscience.

7 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

The delayed dosing was to be expected and will be the norm for the world going forward. 

The new research suggests that the first dose  primes the immune system, allowing it to start making protective antibodies against the virus. The longer that response is allowed to mature, the better the reaction to the second booster shot.  Do not look for sinister intent when there is none. As was mentioned earlier, getting first dose to as many people as fast as possible will slow and even stop spread of the disease.

 

 

If you are following the news you will see  that UK and Canada adopted this strategy. UK is taming its epidemic and Canada has managed to give first  dose to 50% of population and is slowly beating back the disease. UK and Canada have shown the strategy works and delivers relatively fast benefits.

 

 

It was a reasonable expectation. The mRNA vaccine makers should have 3-4 billion does available over the next 12 months. Add to this the Oxford vaccine manufacturers from around the world and there will be another 3-4 billion doses available. The issue will be how to get vaccine into the arms of people.

 

Where are you getting your worldwide vaccine production numbers from?  I have been searching for this sort of info, broken down between vaccine types, but I have not been able to find much.

Edited May 24, 20215 yr by shdmn

The best approach to AstraZeneca is to delay the first dose for as many weeks as possible.

so you have 65% protection for 4 month... Manufacturer recommend to administer in 28 days, but who cares, it's Thailand

1 minute ago, MasterBaker said:

so you have 65% protection for 4 month... Manufacturer recommend to administer in 28 days, but who cares, it's Thailand

In a world of limited recourses, the thinking is to get vaccinated, with a first shot as many as possible in three months,  65% for many is better than 85% for few. 

1 hour ago, Poet said:

The best approach to AstraZeneca is to delay the first dose for as many weeks as possible.

That's the best approach if you would like a situation like that in India.

3 hours ago, nkg said:

 

 

Delaying the 2nd dose of AZ can actually be beneficial:

 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/delaying-second-astrazeneca-vaccine-dose-does-work-study-shows.html

 

 

...i agree...but you would need to have serology done to determine your titre levels..if in range then six months later have a booster.