1.5 million Pfizer doses donated by US to go to senior citizens, pregnant women

The Thai government plans to administer 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to people over the age of 60 and to pregnant women. Priority will be given to those in areas with high rates of infection. The doses have been donated to Thailand by the US government. According to a Nation Thailand report, a leaked memo shows that the doses are expected to arrive in the Kingdom this month, for distribution in July and August.

It’s understood the leaked memo contains the minutes of a meeting held on Sunday, in which a senior official said the Pfizer doses should not be given to medics, as doing so would imply that the Sinovac vaccine they’d already received was of inferior quality.

“It will imply that the quality of the Sinovac vaccine given to them earlier is low, and it will be difficult for us to find a reasonable excuse.”

That comment has now gone viral on social media, causing outrage among netizens. It’s understood that at least 2 frontline healthcare workers have become infected with Covid-19 despite having received both doses of the Sinovac vaccine.

Also in the minutes was the observation that side-effects from the Pfizer vaccine are usually seen more often in men than women. These include fever, nausea, chills, and headache. The minutes also confirmed that the Pfizer doses will be stored at temperatures of -60° to -90° Celsius and that a 3-week interval will be left between the first and second doses.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul admits the minutes of the meeting are real, but says the opinion expressed is only that of 1 person and insists that no decision has yet been made on how the donated Pfizer doses will be used.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand