Bangkok’s Bumrungrad Hospital opens registration for Moderna vaccine

Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok has opened an online booking system for the Moderna vaccine, with priority going to healthcare workers and people who remain unvaccinated. The Bangkok Post reports that the vaccine will cost 1,650 baht per dose. Chief Executive Artirat Charukitpipat says the hospital has not been able to receive the number of vaccines it would have liked and therefore its limited supply needs to be allocated to priority groups.

Artirat says medical workers and those who’ve received 2 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be prioritised for Moderna. However, she adds that priority will also be given to the hospital’s patients, as the facility already has their medical history.

It’s understood the hospital will have enough vaccines to provide 300 doses a day, with doses expiring within 6 months. Wichai Techasathit, an infectious disease specialist at the hospital, says the vaccine is ideal as a booster for healthcare workers and people who’ve been inoculated with 2 doses of Sinovac or Sinopharm, with the second dose administered within the last 3 – 6 months.

However, those who’ve received 1 dose of AstraZeneca are advised to receive AstraZeneca as their second dose and then wait for new vaccines to come on the market which will be multi-variant vaccines. According to Wichai, the production of such vaccines is expected to start early next year, with the new vaccines on the market by mid-2022.

At the time of writing, just getting on to the registration page has been near impossible, a similar experience to that reported by Phuket residents earlier this week, when Siriroj Phuket Hospital launched its registration for Moderna. Following about 2 hours of technical glitches, frustrated users report that registration appeared to close before it had even opened.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post