Public Health Minister barred entry to Switzerland over vaccine requirements

Switzerland barred entry to Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, reportedly for not meeting the country’s Covid-19 vaccination requirements, and Thai media reports that the minister missed a World Health Organisation meeting.

Anutin was the first person in Thailand to be injected with a Covid-19 vaccine on February 28, kicking off the country’s mass immunisation campaign. He was injected with China’s Sinovac vaccine while PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was later inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The health minister later received a second dose of Sinovac and a third “booster” dose of AstraZeneca as the Sinovac vaccine was later found to be not as effective as AstraZeneca against the Delta variant, which is now the dominant strain of the virus in Thailand.

But apparently Anutin’s two Sinovac jabs and AstraZeneca booster didn’t meet Switzerland’s vaccination requirements for entry and he needs a fourth shot. Nation Thailand reports that many countries do not recognise mix-and-match vaccines that include China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines.

Now the health minister says Thailand will start administering fourth doses to people who need to travel abroad to attend business meetings.

SOURCES: ASEAN Now | Nation Thailand