By Cod Satrusayang

 

The Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine had one major advantage over other western-made vaccines which led to large bulk purchases by the Thai government, a public health official told Thai Enquirer on Wednesday.

 

The acquisition of millions of doses of Sinovac vaccine by the Ministry of Public Health has been scrutinized and criticized by opposition parties and the Thai public.

 

Many have questioned why Thailand sought to acquire a vaccine that was less effective at stopping infections and particularly vulnerable to the Delta Variant of the disease.

 

Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/33017/sinovac-has-one-big-advantage-over-other-vaccines-official-says/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2021-09-22

 

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1 minute ago, webfact said:

he Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine had one major advantage over other western-made vaccines which led to large bulk purchases by the Thai government

Yes millions upon millions had been made and China had them in stock, one wonders why, yes sarcasm.

Another way of saying the sinovac is available in large quantities compared with other vaccines is we totally messed up ordering and making the better ones ourselves.  This is not a statement as to sinovac being superior in any way but of govt incompetence.

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Sinovac has one big advantage over other vaccines, official says

 

 

It is easier for Thais to pronounce than Pfizer or Astra Zeca....?

 

 

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It comes in a big brown envelope.

7 minutes ago, Orac said:

Another way of saying the sinovac is available in large quantities compared with other vaccines is we totally messed up ordering and making the better ones ourselves.  This is not a statement as to sinovac being superior in any way but of govt incompetence.

That's not really fair. He makes the point - valid in my view - that Sinovac was the only vac available to Thailand in large numbers at the relevant times. The others were NOT available at the time (ask any Australian).

 

Of course there were also mistakes made (refusing Indian help with AZ, which was soon cut off anyway because of India's own needs, & no doubt some brown envelopes passing around).

Talk about reliable news - an unknown public health official?  ????

2 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

That's not really fair. He makes the point - valid in my view - that Sinovac was the only vac available to Thailand in large numbers at the relevant times. The others were NOT available at the time (ask any Australian).

 

Of course there were also mistakes made (refusing Indian help with AZ, which was soon cut off anyway because of India's own needs, & no doubt some brown envelopes passing around).

A fair point but how much of this was down to too much emphasis being put on keeping the virus out, both here and Australia, rather than vaccine procurement and development in the first place. Even when it became clear that vaccines would be needed in huge numbers there was a hell of a lot of dithering.
 

i supposed hindsight is a wonderful thing and many of us looked on smugly as our home countries were swamped by the virus.

10 minutes ago, Henryford said:

It comes in a big brown envelope.

Yes and since a million Thai baht is only around US$ 30,000 (chump change) that would take a pretty big brown (manila?) envelope, huh?

 

 

You can get a submarine with enough box tops?

1 minute ago, Orac said:

A fair point but how much of this was down to too much emphasis being put on keeping the virus out, both here and Australia, rather than vaccine procurement and development in the first place. Even when it became clear that vaccines would be needed in huge numbers there was a hell of a lot of dithering.
 

i supposed hindsight is a wonderful thing and many of us looked on smugly as our home countries were swamped by the virus.

Yes, many mistakes all round, it seems to me. But - as in Oz, but just about any other country as well - governments at political & officials levels, together with medical advisers, did the best they could in rapidly changing & unforeseen circumstances. Easy for the rest of us to stand back & criticize (eg the falang hysteria here over the last 2 or 3 months re Pfizer)

if this is a fact then why didnt the PM get it, he refused to have the chinese stuff, says a lot about how good it actually is, also on how much they are able to make from it and this is the real reason it is being pushed onto the thai people while the ministers etc get their western shots

It's analogous to the foreign teacher situation. I often get asked:

 

"Why can't I do volunteer work? Why can't I just teach for a few hours here and there? I'm retired and just want to help out. But they insist I go the full, official route, and be hired full time. Why?"

 

Because from the latter, salaried position they get a cut. From volunteers, there's nothing to grab.

 

There's "juice" in the Chinese deal. In dealing with others, there'd be none.

With Sinovac, other than the fact that it is cheaper than the other ones, you'll probably will have to take couple or more of booster shots to make it work and this is when the cheap become expensive...

not mentioning kowtowing ( i would have used stronger terms but it's not allowed) to the big brother China...

7 minutes ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

It's analogous to the foreign teacher situation. I often get asked:

 

"Why can't I do volunteer work? Why can't I just teach for a few hours here and there? I'm retired and just want to help out. But they insist I go the full, official route, and be hired full time. Why?"

 

Because from the latter, salaried position they get a cut. From volunteers, there's nothing to grab.

 

There's "juice" in the Chinese deal. In dealing with others, there'd be none.

Whether true or not, this seems to be one of those "Everyone knows..." situations but in the no-confidence measures early this month the opposition seemed unable to prove any of their embezzlement charges.

 

PM Prayut accused of embezzlement in Sinovac vaccine purchases via Thaiger 2 SEP 2021

 

 

didn't the US offer Thailand Pfizer three times only for it to be rejected in favour of Sinovac?

 

that's what the mrs claims anyway...

 

can't argue with larger quantities being available though, it was probably produced before they invented covid-19

An off topic post has been removed

"...according to one public health official..."

One anonymous Thai health official, vs. the rest of the world's health experts. Hmmm. Sounds scientifically sound to me. 

I'm suprised that Sinovac isn't on sale in the 7-eleven's given the Thai businessperson involved in the company manufacturing it. :rolleyes:

 

From the article link:

 

The official also defended the MOPH’s controversial Sinovac + Astrazeneca cocktail which has been criticized by the public.

“The science is in, the mixing of the vaccines boost effectiveness. All this criticism is just political and it is costing us lives because people become apprehensive to get jabbed.”

 

They've yet to tell WHO about the science in mixing Sinovac with AZ as they've not received it, they've only got evidence of safety and effectiveness for mixing AZ with one of the mrna vaccines brands.

“Sinovac had one major advantage over the other vaccines, it was available in large quantities,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

“You have to remember that other vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna were backlogged for months, our AstraZeneca plants were not yet operational, so Sinovac was literally the only option we had to get in vaccines and fast.”

 

Lets get this straight - Thailand dropped the ball the blame is 100% with the government for having to order this less effective vaccine from China

 

other vaccines were availble for months - Thailand simply refused to order them early so was forced to order sinovac because they had no choice - lets put the blame exactly where it is deserved  

His point is valid, however when everyone was buying vaccines Thailand was not. So it was a problem they created themselves. So because of their bad decisions people got a less effective vaccine.

 

Plus like others i wonder how much brown enveloppes have been given, Eu and US companies can't do that Chinese companies can.

 

They even pay more for Shinovax as they do for Astra. 

Nothing to do with CP and their connections then ?.....yeah right !

50 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

That's not really fair. He makes the point - valid in my view - that Sinovac was the only vac available to Thailand in large numbers at the relevant times. The others were NOT available at the time (ask any Australian).

 

Of course there were also mistakes made (refusing Indian help with AZ, which was soon cut off anyway because of India's own needs, & no doubt some brown envelopes passing around).

But they have continued to order this sub standard vaccine after far better ones DID become available and a lot cheaper too

They had large amounts of the vaccine because no one wanted it.  So it just sat on the shelves and was ready to expire so they cut the price.  Still no one wanted it except Thailand.

I’m really not sure how these guys can sprout such utter BS with a straight face!

 

Do they actually believe what they are saying or are they just extremely good at spinning yarns?

Every other vaccine would have been available in equal amounts and even earlier, if the Thai government would not have been sitting on their collective a$$es for over one year and hoping - like Donald Trump - that the summer / Songkran / you name it will magically make the virus go away...

They ordered the first Chinese Sinovac vaccines last in November before even WHO approval at $17 a shot and they were instantly approved by FDA.

They didn't order other western vaccines until a few months ago had they ordered other vaccines at the same time they would have arrived already.
Private hospitals were supposed to order western vaccines but were blocked by the FDA and red tape.

Sinovac was the only company who paid us.... That was the advantage.. And because it is less effective we can order more and more and also get more and more commission

For sure it has.

It has home advantage.