Viral LINE post among students claims Pfizer vaccine is a killer

A viral message by teenage groups being spread on the LINE application claiming that the Pfizer vaccination program for young people is a tool for committing genocide has been strongly condemned by the government. A campaign to vaccinate students between the ages of 12 and 17 with the Pfizer vaccine was put in place to safely reopen schools in November.

The message being spread online by teenage groups is that the vaccine will kill you after 2 years. Officials believe that the inflammatory claims may be coming from the parents of the students who are hesitant to have their children vaccinated, according to Dr Chawetsan Namwat, the director of the Emergency Health Hazard and Disease Control Division.

The director insists that the vaccines have been thoroughly tested to meet safety standards in development and production and have been widely used around the world including in the United States and Germany where Pfizer and BioNTech were developed respectively.

About 3.6 million youth signed up to be vaccinated, and 1.8 million vaccines have already been distributed among the provinces, with another 1.5 million more vaccines expected to arrive next week. Additional shipments of Pfizer vaccines are still en route as well.

A little more than 150,000 students have received their first Pfizer dose according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. There have been reports of 3 rare side effects of heart muscle inflammation but the patients were quickly treated and fully recovered.

Dr Chawetsan said that wow students being vaccinated is an important part of school reopening, the following of Covid-19 safety regulations is the most important thing. Students can’t be gathering in large groups, sports competitions must be restricted, and everyone must maintain social distancing and wear masks. The Office of Basic Education Commission has been aiming for an 85% vaccination rate to reopen on-site learning.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post