3 million doses of Pfizer allocated for children to arrive in Thailand next week
The first batch of Pfizer vaccines allocated for children will arrive in Thailand on January 26. A total of 3 million doses of the vaccine is expected to be given to children at the age of 5 to 11 years old starting on January 31, starting with children who are diagnosed with congenital diseases.
The Deputy Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, Sopon Iamsirithaworn, told Thai media that the authorities must examine the vaccine shipment and run tests before administering it to the public. The dosage for children will be different from adults. One bottle of a vaccine can be offered to 10 children at 0.2 millilitres each.
The vaccine will first be delivered to the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health to inoculate children with a congenital disease. Then, the vaccine will be sent to schools and hospitals that have a contract with the Ministry of Education and later ask for cooperation from parents to take their children to get vaccinated.
Many schools in Thailand have resumed on-site classes, but several parents have protested the required antigen nasal tests for children
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul added about ATK tests at schools, saying that it is under the consideration and decision of the school directors. He believes that every measure is intended to make the children safe.
Thailand ordered a total of 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The date for the next vaccine delivery has not been released yet.
