Thai government still betting big on Sinovac as public faith erodes

[wensiensheng]

5 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

"There is no point blindly rushing on"

 

!00% agree, they are in a position now where its staring them in the face but not only them, the whole Thai population can see whats going on. 

 

Yet they are still making the same mistakes! Only recently they made an order for 20 million Pfizer, why so few? They should have ordered 100 million, yes we know the extra would not arrive till early next year but thats what planning is, get in now or be stuck as we are next year also. Have thery not learnt anything when they missed the opportunity to order Pfizer last year?

 

Even China itself ordered 100 million pfizer and is also now in late stage phase 3 trials developing its own mRNA vaccine candidate. 

 

In the interim they have no choice but to use boosters and sort out some of the mess in their chaotic vaccine roll out priority groups. 

 

Thailand has its own mRNA vaccine candidate under development however its in very early trials and there is absolutely no guarantee that it will be successful. As experienced recently with the German biotech CureVac  vaccine which was only 47% effective in a late-stage trial, missing the study’s main goal and throwing in doubt the potential delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to the European Union.

 

Well, it’s debatable whether those Pfizer have even been ordered. It was announced so long ago and there’s never been an actual delivery date stated afaik.

 

but in essence, yes, they need to start sensible planning and that should involve serious amounts of mRNA vaccines based on current research.

[BarraMarra]

If you got the Money and you want a good reliable car what you gonna go for a Fiat or a BMW, or if you need a Tyre you can buy a cheap brand that will be worn out in 3 Month's, or splash out and buy a Pirelli  that last you over a year.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Yet, the government refuses to waver from its plan to stick with Sinovac.

So be it, the people will have the last word soon... 

[ukrules]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai Sang Thai Party is now gathering signatures for a petition to initiate criminal proceedings against the Cabinet over the latest procurement of the Sinovac vaccine.

Setting a precedent of arresting and imprisoning former prime ministers leads to one thing only : this ^

[Burma Bill]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

despite growing doubts about its efficacy that have placed the government under scrutiny.

For reference from "Breaking News" section of today's The Nation (12 July 2021):-

 

"Well-loved Samut Sakhon doctor loses his battle against Covid-19.

........ also pointed out that the doctor had received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine along with other frontline medical personnel."

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40003138

[Burma Bill]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

the government refuses to waver from its plan to stick with Sinovac.

Of course, the Chinese "paymasters" have insisted on this!!!!

[mrfill]

1 hour ago, ba ba said:

the steam off boiling water with kill this virus in 5 min we don't need bill gates needle

It may well do, but being suspended in boiling steam for 5 minutes would kill the patient as well.

Probably not the finest public health decision then.

[d2b2]

[pokerface1]

They can't resist buy one Sinovac get 5 free and put the money in your pockets

[Fex Bluse]

6 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

It's certainly the most available vaccine to a government who failed to get in queue for the others early on.

 

But I suspect this is the real reason. Huge sums transferred into the off shore bank accounts of corrupt government officials with every Sinovac order.

I agree in part. But, I think it's even bigger than that. China would likely be persuading Thais to buy the Chinese vaccines using massive economic coercion like 

 

Threats that if the Thais refuse the Chinese vaccines, China will not allow its tourists to return to Thailand when the pandemic is over. I'd bet this is the biggest lever the Chinese will use on the Thais. 

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, Thomas J said:

There has to be a reason for the governments undying loyalty to Sinovac despite all the pushback from the medical community and citizens.  If not, why would the government not do the easy thing and procure the vaccines that the public and the doctors are wanting. 

Why? Because they missed the boat and are now at the back of the queue. I've read and heard that some deliveries, if they come at all, are not expected until 2022.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Bangkok Barry

[Isaan sailor]

7 hours ago, keith101 said:

Maybe they signed some kind of contract to buy this useless rubbish and the Chinese are holding them to it or possible condition to them building the new fast train line anything is possible TIT .

Either that, or another useless submarine in return for a 12-month SinoVac P.O.

[Almer]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Why? Because they missed the boat and are now at the back of the queue. I've read and heard that some deliveries, if they come at all, are not expected until 2022.

If that is true they can reduce the order considerably, as there wont be so many people around to need the vaccine.

[herfiehandbag]

2 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

That scene from the movie Casino, where in the count room the money kept flying into pockets, and the stacks that went out kept getting smaller and smaller.

I must confess I don't know the movie, but the scenario you describe...

[DefaultName]

One would almost think that they had been ordered to use Sinovac.

[chilly07]

Local production of AZ has gone very quiet. Are they exporting most of it? It's meant to come on stream this month to achieve the 300k jabs per day promised.I know some went to the Philippines but very little seems to be left? We could do with 300k for Pattaya now!

[herfiehandbag]

2 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Yet they are still making the same mistakes! Only recently they made an order for 20 million Pfizer, why so few? They should have ordered 100 million, yes we know the extra would not arrive till early next year but thats what planning is, get in now or be stuck as we are next year also. Have thery not learnt anything when they missed the opportunity to order Pfizer last year?

They opted out of the international allocation system, because they sensed that manufacturing their own would bring in shedloads of money. That domestic manufacturing process has manifestly (though they will never admit it) failed.

 

This leaves them dependant on sourcing the stuff on the open market. Before they accept an order I am sure the manufacturer will require either cash up front, or at the very least demand realistic, independently verifiable projections that when delivered the cash will be available. This I suspect is the reason for both the relatively low quantities ordered, and the delayed delivery. Sinovac quite possibly comes with a rather more flexible line of credit, albeit one which Thailand will probably be paying off for a very long time.

 

Of course cash is the problem. Eye watering amounts may have been borrowed and/or promised, but many influential and politically vital government supporters, and the organisation's whose loyalty is needed to keep this regime in power, have the first call on that money. Buying vaccines for Joe (Somchai) Public is left far behind. The stuff which has generously been donated, well a lot of people will have an interest in that, and again, inevitably, Joe (Somchai) Public will be left far behind. 

 

I was going to say "follow the money", but for the "usual suspects" a lifetime's practice will have ensured that all tracks will be well covered, all trails will be very cold

Edited July 12, 2021 by herfiehandbag

[Eric Loh]

13 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

Local production of AZ has gone very quiet. Are they exporting most of it? It's meant to come on stream this month to achieve the 300k jabs per day promised.I know some went to the Philippines but very little seems to be left? We could do with 300k for Pattaya now!

The agreement with Astrazeneca was for the majority of vaccines produced by Siam Bioscience to be outward bound. 

[misterjames]

3 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

According to https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/vaccines/7/  Sinovac has been approved in 37 countries. They can't all be influenced by CP.

But they are all countries being influenced by CCP 

[misterjames]

59 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

Local production of AZ has gone very quiet. 

Astrazeneca is a not-for-profit vaccine, I imagine there is some small print in the Thai agreement with the UK that stipulates they are not allowed to profit from it.

 

Perhaps this might be something to do with it?

 

“A key element of Oxford’s partnership with AstraZeneca is the joint commitment to provide the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis for the duration of the pandemic across the world, and in perpetuity to low- and middle-income countries,” it said"

 

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by misterjames

[natway09]

Beggars believe that they will not even listen  & just ignore  their frontline Doctors & specialists in their field. Gotta be some reason ???

[Thomas J]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Why? Because they missed the boat and are now at the back of the queue. I've read and heard that some deliveries, if they come at all, are not expected until 2022.

Yes but I read that they were "still reviewing contracts"  What the heck is there to review and how long could that possibly take.  Something pretty simple like I order 20 million doses of vaccine and Thailand agrees to pay you x amount for it.  

[ftpjtm]

10 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Pfizer has issued a statement that they will only deal with central governments and supra-national agencies:

 

Pfizer has said that it is “working with federal governments across the world to supply its Covid-19 vaccine for use in national immunization programs. Our supply agreements at this time are with national governments and supra-national organizations with allocation of doses and implementation within the country being a decision that governments take based on relevant health authority guidance. This approach Pfizer has followed across the world."

 

https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/pfizer-declines-punjab-vaccine-plea-will-deal-with-centre-only-1806511-2021-05-24

Which is why private hospitals needed the Thai government to sign off on a purchase. 

 

Per many articles on this thread the government first indicated it would do that, but ultimately decided not to sign off on any private hospital purchases 

[mlmcleod]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

The Chinese vaccine has since become the country’s main choice, despite growing doubts about its efficacy that have placed the government under scrutiny.

Choice??  There is no choice when their are no alternatives.  Sort of like Kim being the first choice to lead North Korea!

[Andycoops]

With the news that hundreds of Thai medical workers are now infected after taking Sinovac, millions of others will refuse to have it.

[Karma80]

13 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Threats that if the Thais refuse the Chinese vaccines, China will not allow its tourists to return to Thailand when the pandemic is over. I'd bet this is the biggest lever the Chinese will use on the Thais. 

Exactly this. Without Chinese tourism, Thailand won't ever recover. They are accepting Sinovac to court favour for a travel bubble I imagine. That ship and sailed and sunk over the last couple of weeks probably.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Karma80

[KhaoYai]

Does anyone know what the problem is with the Thai made AZ vaccine?  They were supposed to be producing millions of doses per month by now and be S.E. Asia's AZ supplier.  Is it a production problem or an 'administrative' one?

 

If its the latter then for reasons we can't discuss, we are very unlikely to get to know what's going on.

[KhaoYai]

10 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

Per many articles on this thread the government first indicated it would do that, but ultimately decided not to sign off on any private hospital purchases 

In the case of Astra Zeneca, I can't see them letting their vaccine be sold by either a government or a private hospital as  they are supplying it at cost until the Pandemic is declared over by the WHO. They're not going to do that and watch others profit from it - they will no doubt have written the same conditions into their licence agreement with the Thai AZ franchise holder.

[wasabi]

Time to bring back Yingluck?

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, ba ba said:

the steam off boiling water with kill this virus in 5 min we don't need bill gates needle

It will also take your skin off.......