Education ministry to accelerate vaccination of over 200,000 teachers

All vocational and secondary school students should be fully vaccinated by November 15 and the vaccination of 210,000 teachers is being accelerated ahead of schools re-opening. So says Suphat Champatong from the Education Ministry, adding that the government has taken delivery of 3 vaccine types – viral vector, live attenuated, and inactivated.

In a Bangkok Post report, Suphat says the Food and Drug Administration has approved both the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines for use in students between the ages of 12 and 17.

“The government will allocate enough vaccines to students. The ministry also expects students will be fully vaccinated by November 15, so it will be possible for students to resume their school life in the second semester of the academic year 2021.”

He adds that anyone experiencing side-effects as a result of vaccination will be compensated, but that the chances of adverse side-effects in children are low. Responding to whether 360,000 primary school students who are in Grade 6 and of a similar age could be vaccinated, the minister says such a move would require FDA approval, with a study currently underway into the suitability of the Pfizer vaccine.

Meanwhile, Sarawut Boonsuk from the Department of Health says Pfizer has been approved in the US and some European countries for use in children over the age of 3, but he believes more studies are needed. He adds that the Pfizer vaccine has been shown to cause myocarditis in young boys, usually after the second dose. He adds that out of 1 million young Pfizer recipients locally, only 1 person experienced this reaction and the patient has subsequently recovered.

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SOURCE: Bangkok Post