Booster for those with 2 Sinovac vaccines coming by October

Those already vaccinated in Thailand may be getting a shot in the arm by next month or even sooner, as Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul declared that booster shot administering will begin imminently for those who received 2 Sinovac vaccines already. He stressed that the actual timing will be up to the Disease Control Department but predicted it will be within the next few weeks.

As the Chinese-made vaccines have been seen to be fairly ineffective against the Delta variant that is now the majority strain of Covid-19 in Thailand, millions of people have been waiting to get an AstraZeneca booster shot. Half a million medics and first responders in Thailand have already received a third booster shot and 2 million more are scheduled to receive it soon.

Thailand has recently revised its vaccination plan to make a mix and match set of Sinovac followed by AstraZeneca the main vaccine option in Thailand. Plans have also been in the works to provide newer vaccine recipients with the first dose of AstraZeneca followed by a Pfizer dose which they plan on receiving and implementing next month.

Thailand is scheduled to receive 10 million Pfizer vaccines per month starting next month and the brand has already been registered with Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration for use on children. The manufacturers of Sinopharm have requested to use their vaccines for young children aged 3 and older but have not received approval yet.

Anutin also reiterated the guarantee that 120 million vaccines of various brands will have been received by Thailand by the end of the year, a figure they say is enough to meet Thailand entire domestic needs.

The Public Health Minister joined other senior health officials in an inspection of a new Bangkok field hospital built to treat severe red cases of up to 120 patients without having to rely on transferring them to main hospitals. The facility is scheduled to open tomorrow and be an alternative to hospital treatment for Covid-19 patients in the area. It is fully equipped, including ICU facilities.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World