PM Prayut Chan-o-cha offers to be first up for Covid-19 vaccine

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has offered to be the first in Thailand to get jabbed with China’s Sinovac vaccine, which is set to arrive on Wednesday. Apparently, the prime minister had said in the past that people over 60 years old should not get the coronavirus vaccine. Prayut is 66.

Last month, Prayut made a post on Facebook saying he won’t let Thais become vaccine “guinea pigs,” pointing out serious negative side effects some people have reported after getting injected with a Covid-19 vaccine.

The first 200,000 doses of the Chinese made vaccine are expected to arrive on Wednesday. Prayut is expected to formally accept the delivery at an event Thai officials are calling “Covid vaccines, restoring the Thai Smile.”

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says the vaccine has been a sensitive issue and the vaccine management team has been under a lot of pressure.

“I haven’t hidden anything but need to find the right time to explain my decisions. There are concerns about untoward occurrences, like what happens if the plane carrying the vaccines crashes? If the vaccine does not arrive, it will not be the government’s fault, because we have completed our side of the job.”

The Sinovac vaccine still needs to be approved by the Thai Food and Drug Administration before use.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand