Covid-19 vaccines for 18 million vulnerable people

The National Vaccine Committee is to provide Covid-19 vaccines to 18 million vulnerable people next year, including medical staff and health volunteers.

The government has provided 143 million vaccine shots in the past two years, saving an estimated 500,000 lives.

COVID-19 infections appear to be on the rise again, especially among those who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, while daily infection and death rates averaged 394 and 5 respectively from October 30 to November 5.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to issue recommendations on how to administer the vaccine next year. But the committee has its procedure, similar to its influenza vaccination drive. Shots are given to seniors, the chronically sick, toddlers, medical staff and health volunteers.

The committee will allow local administrative organisations to purchase the vaccine next year, he said. The National Vaccine Institute will decide how organisations can make their orders.

Yong Poovorawan, head of the centre of excellence in clinical virology at the faculty of medicine, Chulalongkorn University, posted on his Facebook page yesterday, that those who had received two vaccine doses do not yet count as being fully vaccinated. It must be three shots regardless of what type of vaccine was received.

About 70% of the population will eventually contract the disease. But considering the large number of people vaccinated, those who are infected may only display mild symptoms, he said.

Boosters are important to enhance immunity, especially among senior citizens, those with chronic illness and small children, Yong said, adding they should be prioritised for booster shots next year.

The Department of Disease Control reported yesterday that the number of deaths in Thailand had been lower than expected due to people’s willingness to follow the safety guidelines.