Vaccine procurement budget unlimited: Health Minister

[webfact]

 

By Tanakorn Sangiam

   

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Minister of Public Health has declared in a parliamentary session that Thailand doesn’t have any budget restriction when it comes to vaccine procurement, stressing the country’s supply of 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from AstraZeneca are arriving this month.

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul yesterday elaborated on the government’s budget for vaccine procurement, saying that there are no constraints or limits on purchasing efficient vaccines.

 

He said vaccine procurement funding could come from different parts of the government’s budget, as well as emergency loans, insisting that vaccination is the government’s top priority in protecting the people from any type of communicable disease.

 

The Minister of Public Health’s remark was made during a parliamentary debate on the government’s proposed 2022 fiscal year budget bill.

 

Mr Anutin said the government is committed to ensuring access to treatment for every person in Thailand, including foreign nationals, should they contract COVID-19, without any patient left behind.

 

On the looming kick-off date of the national vaccination drive, the Minister of Public Health assured the community that the supply of 6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine will be delivered in time.

 

Siam Bioscience, a local contract manufacturer for AstraZeneca, today announced the delivery of the first 1.8 million doses of the viral vector COVID-19 vaccine to AstraZeneca. The company will then sort and deliver the vaccines to recipient countries.

 

The Minister of Public Health said AstraZeneca Thailand has assured him that they will supply the vaccines on order by the Thai government on time, with 6 million doses expected to be gradually delivered until the end of June.

 

Thailand’s national vaccination drive will start on 7th June, for people 60 years old or over, people with chronic diseases, and anyone 18 years old or older in certain areas, such as in Bangkok.

 

The Ministry of Public Health will be managing the supplies of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines to vaccination centers across the country, according to the direction by the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration chaired by the Prime Minister.

 

Provinces are expected to deliver vaccinations as quickly as possible once they receive their supply, without storing the vaccine for later use, while the choice of vaccine brand will need to be considered by vaccination providers based on medical indications.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-06-03

 

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[nkg]

Wise decision, from both a human and an economic perspective.

 

The UK went nuts and ordered 500 million vaccines for 67 million people, and they still "only" spent £12 billion. Now their daily deaths are in single figures and they are close to reopening.

 

If an extra couple of billion dollars gets Thailand vaccinated a few months sooner, it's a great investment.

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

Tell me why the PM then moved the MOPH budget into the Central Fund, if there were no budget restrictions.  Can someone please help me to understand these moves a little clearer as it seems there is a shell game being played.  The finance minister must be cringing right about now with the statements made and of course the hijacking of funds from one pot into another.

[mtls2005]

Mom and dad are fighting...not sure which is which though.

 

 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Minister of Public Health has declared in a parliamentary session that Thailand doesn’t have any budget restriction when it comes to vaccine procurement, stressing the country’s supply of 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from AstraZeneca are arriving this month.

Pathetic.

[Fex Bluse]

These people are not idiots, perse, but they do not really care what comes out of their mouths. A common national characteristic. 

[jacko45k]

25 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

These people are not idiots, perse, but they do not really care what comes out of their mouths. A common national characteristic. 

One gets an impression they must have something coming out of them on a regular basis, and no apparent forethought of what, is needed. 

After all, only the lower masses will hear, and they will be unable to comprehend, nor recall next week. 

Edited June 3, 2021 by jacko45k

[internationalism]

The PM just from yesterday during debate at Parliament

“We didn’t order many vaccines at the start because THEY WERE NOT PROVEN TO BE SUCCESSFUL”

 

he did not realise he has admitted to failure, that caused the 3rd wave and cost thousands lives.

The truth is - for the government it was simply too expensive to order many different vax already the last year.

With proper planning there wouldn't be the 3rd wave

 

[Tropicalevo]

We need a 'yawning' emoji to click on.

The 5 current ones do not cover how I feel when this man speaks.

Sad is the closest one currently.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Tropicalevo

[newnative]

The endless talk, talk, talk is 'unlimited', too.  Stop the talking and start the procurement already. 

[Jimbo2014]

Sounds like we need to buy some more submarines to ferry the vaccines into the country? 

[ThailandRyan]

17 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Sounds like we need to buy some more submarines to ferry the vaccines into the country? 

Deep water submarines to travel where its cold so they don't need to be stored in refrigeration.  

[internationalism]

there is a satirical commentary what "unlimited funds" do mean to us and to them - a smiling man with a wad of 1m high cash at his hands, standing on top of bodies wrapped in body bags with "smile" drawn on their faces.

I won't attach this picture, as it can offend some sensitive persons.

 

that's what unlimited means for billionaires ruling over us  

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by internationalism

[chilly07]

Hang on didn't he who must be obeyed confiscate the Min of Health funds in the previous  article? 

[chilly07]

3 hours ago, internationalism said:

The PM just from yesterday during debate at Parliament

“We didn’t order many vaccines at the start because THEY WERE NOT PROVEN TO BE SUCCESSFUL”

 

he did not realise he has admitted to failure, that caused the 3rd wave and cost thousands lives.

The truth is - for the government it was simply too expensive to order many different vax already the last year.

With proper planning there wouldn't be the 3rd wave

 

Didn't  stop the USA and the UK from pre-ordering many times  more than they needed and many different types well before  they knew their relative efficacy!

Edited June 3, 2021 by chilly07

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Sounds like we need to buy some more submarines to ferry the vaccines into the country? 

Don't even mention the ferry!

[MrJ2U]

Hard to wrap ones head around this governments priorities.  Everything is so wrong it would be funny if it wasn't so life-threatening.

 

Also 6 million doses is actually 3 million.  It takes two doses per person.

 

Anutin, what else can one say.

[Burma Bill]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The Minister of Public Health

 

From the photo above, he looks a very lonely figure these days!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For an entity with a supposedly unlimited budget for vaccines, perhaps the government can explain why now, a year and a half into the pandemic, they've basically bought NONE except for those Sinovac doses donated by and/or purchased from China (have the terms of that ever been made clear)?

 

18 months in -- no concluded purchases of any Moderna doses, no concluded purchases of any Pfizer doses, no concluded purchases of any J&J doses, and although the PM long ago promised Thailand was going to get Russian doses, the Thai FDA as yet hasn't even approved the Russian doses for use here, nor has there been any purchase or even donation.

 

For people with a supposedly unlimited budget, they pretty much seem to be doing jack squat -- other than constantly shooting off their mouths!

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK