Public Health Ministry
- Covid-19 News
Health Ministry asks vaccine importers to prepare procurement plans for next year
6 Covid-19 vaccine importers have been asked to prepare purchase plans for next year, which should factor in virus mutations. The Public Health Ministry made the request at a meeting with AstraZeneca Thailand, Pfizer Thailand, Zuellig Pharma, Janssen-Cilag, Biogenetech, and the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation. According to a Nation Thailand report, Opas Karnkawinpong from the Department of Disease Control says an…
- Covid-19 News
Opposition MP slams government over AstraZeneca procurement failure
An MP from the opposition Pheu Thai Party has blasted the government for not disclosing the details of the AstraZeneca procurement contract. Yutthapong Charasathien is demanding that Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul remove the head of the Department of Disease Control over the failings, accusing him of mismanaging vaccine procurement and allocation. The Bangkok Post reports that during a meeting…
- Covid-19 News
Government insists it can meet target of 10 million vaccine doses a month
The Thai government says it has enough doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines to meet its target of 10 million doses a month administered in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces. According to a Bangkok Post report, Opas Karnkawinpong from the Department of Disease Control says officials will ramp up the number of doses administered in high-risk areas, adding that nearly…
- Thailand News
Rapid antigen tests should be available next week for testing at home
Yesterday, the Public Health Ministry announced that rapid antigen tests will now be sold for home use. The tests will be sold at hospitals, health clinics, pharmacies, and other locations that have been approved by the FDA. The announcement states that government institutions that get the kits must send them to hospitals. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul also said yesterday…
- Covid-19 News
Friday Covid Update: 9,276 new infections and 72 deaths
9,276 new Covid-19 cases and 72 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. With the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the CCSA expects daily cases to soon hit 10,000. While today’s case count is an uptick over the past several weeks. Thailand hit a record high in new cases in mid-May with 9,635…
- Covid-19 News
Stricter Covid restrictions likely for Bangkok, other “at-risk” provinces
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meets today to consider a number of tougher restrictions aimed at flattening the curve of new infections in Bangkok and a number of other provinces. Yesterday, cases reached a record high of 7,058, with 75 Covid-related deaths. According to a Bangkok Post report, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says the government, which is still resisting the…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA to consider travel restrictions, other disease control measures
Travel restrictions are likely to be imposed over the next few days. The Public Health Ministry is proposing stricter measures, including limits on interprovincial travel, to control the spread of the Covid-19 following the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is set to meet tomorrow morning and discuss disease control measures. Along with limits…
- Covid-19 News
Growing calls for healthcare workers to get Pfizer booster
A leaked document, which details the minutes of a meeting in which officials discussed how they would allocate the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, has caused uproar and led to calls for healthcare workers to be prioritised. The Bangkok Post reports that the meeting took place on June 30 and discussed the administration of 2 batches of the Pfizer vaccine. The first…
- Covid-19 News
Sinovac vaccine 71% to 91% effective against Alpha variant, Thai study shows
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry says 2 doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine are 71% to 91% effective against the Alpha variant of the virus which was first detected in the UK. A study on the effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine, also known as Coronavac, was done by Thailand’s National Communicable Diseases Committee and the National Vaccine Committee. The study…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 screening centre in Bangkok temporarily closed to migrant workers
After many migrant workers infected with Covid-19 were reportedly abandoned at the Public Health Ministry’s Pre-Admission Centre in Bangkok, it is now temporarily closed to migrant workers. The centre is used to screen people who are infected with the virus before sending them to a facility for treatment. Apparently, a number of workers have been dropped off at the centres.…
- Thailand News
1 million AstraZeneca doses arrive, Anutin says “more” on the way
1 million more AstraZeneca doses arrived in Thailand today. They were delivered to Thailand’s Public Health Ministry and are set to be distributed throughout the country today. Or tomorrow. Says the Anutin, the Public Health Minister. Anutin says the vaccines will be sent every week. This comes from an agreement the ministry has with the company. Anutin did not provide…
- Covid-19 News
“We’ll do better on vaccines, there’s loads more on the way” – Anutin
Thailand’s Public Health Minister has pledged to do better on vaccine rollout, saying many more doses are coming soon. Anutin Charnvirakul says 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived yesterday, with another 1 million arriving tomorrow. The Bangkok Post reports that yesterday, Anutin visited the vaccination centre at Bang Sue Grand Station in the capital, where he met with some…
- Tourism News
Pattaya October reopening hampered by obstacles
Pattaya has been working on its reopening plan, aiming to bring back international tourism in the fourth quarter of 2021. Officials have launched the “Pattaya, Move on” scheme which aims to open back up the popular tourist city in October, but the Public Health Ministry disagrees with their plan so far. The goal is to reopen Pattaya without the need…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand to get 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, 5 million Johnson & Johnson doses
The Thai government is ordering 20 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, along with 5 million of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine. Thai PBS World reports that deliveries are expected in the second half of the year. The Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, and Nattaphon Narkpanich, chair of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says the Pfizer and…
- Covid-19 News
Health Ministry insists supply issues won’t affect vaccine rollout
Thailand’s Public Health Ministry says the country’s vaccine rollout will begin today, with 2 priority groups: the elderly and those with 7 underlying health conditions. The Deputy Minister of Public Health, Sathit Pitutecha, acknowledges that many hospitals around the country have postponed vaccination appointments scheduled for today over concerns they had not received enough vaccine doses. “We are aware of…
- Tourism News
Tourism operators pinning hopes on vaccine rollout
Thailand’s tourism operators are pinning all their hopes on the national vaccine rollout, which kicks off today. However, the government’s reputation for vaccine procurement and management has come in for sharp criticism and confidence is not high. Already, a number of provinces have had to postpone their vaccine rollouts after receiving an insufficient number of doses from the Public Health…
- Covid-19 News
Health Minister confident AstraZeneca doses will arrive on time
Thailand’s Public Health Minister says the delivery of 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is on schedule. Anutin Charnvirakul says the doses are expected to arrive in batches, throughout the month of June, and he’s confident the first lot will be here by June 7, when the national rollout begins. “I’m confident the first lot will be put…
- Thailand News
Thai Navy stands by decision to purchase 3 Chinese tanks
A spokesman yesterday defended the Royal Thai Navy’s decision to buy 3 Chinese tanks, while the country struggles to purchase an adequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines. According to a Bangkok Post report, Navy spokesman Chettha Chaipiam says the purchase was agreed prior to the arrival of the pandemic. He points out that, the 398-million-baht agreement was signed during the 2020…
- Covid-19 News
Health Minister insists AstraZeneca vaccines will be delivered on time
The required doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be ready for the government’s June 7 rollout. So says Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, in response to concerns over supply issues. A number of hospitals have already suspended use of the vaccine, due to low or no supplies. According to a Bangkok Post report, Anutin met with representatives from AstraZeneca…
- Covid-19 News
2 markets in central Thailand report hundreds of new infections
A Bangkok market and another in the central province of Pathum Thani have recorded hundreds of new Covid-19 infections. The Bangkok Post reports that over 860 new cases have been detected at Pathum Thani’s Simummuang Market, while officials in the Bang Kapi district of Bangkok have confirmed the 3-day closure of Bang Kapi Market following a spike in infections there.…
- Covid-19 News
Covid UPDATE Tuesday: 2,473 new cases, 35 deaths
In Tuesday’s report of Covid cases in Thailand, the public health ministry has announced 2,473 new infections and 35 Covid-related deaths. The number of active cases continues to rise. Yesterday the state recorded 35,055 people still under care in hospitals or field hospitals. Most of these people remain asymptomatic. Around the world there are now 164,262,554 reported infections since the…
- Covid-19 News
Walk-in vaccination centre to open at Bangkok’s Bang Sue railway station
Thailand’s Transport Minister, Saksayam Chidchob, has confirmed that a walk-in vaccination centre will open at Bang Sue railway station in Bangkok, from next month. The centre will serve the capital’s residents and those in the surrounding provinces. The Bangkok Post reports that 13,500 square metres of space is being transformed into a Covid-19 vaccination centre, with the goal of administering…
- Covid-19 News
Thai health official dies a week after being injected with the Covid-19 vaccine
A Thai health official died a week after being injected with the Covid-19 vaccine. The woman, who worked for Public Health Ministry’s administration division, suffered from heart failure and was admitted to the Phra Nang Klao Hospital in Nonthaburi, a suburb outside of Bangkok. The woman died 7 days after being injected with the Covid-19 vaccine, according to deputy permanent…
- Thailand News
Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine now approved in Thailand for those over 60
The Chinese-made Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine is now approved in Thailand for adults over 60 years old. Doctors had initially advised that the vaccine to only be for adults 18 to 60 due to limited research on the elderly. The recommendation from doctors led Thailand’s 67 year old prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, to wait and take the AstraZeneca vaccine. After Prayut…
- Covid-19 News
Vaccines reserved for Thais, not expats – Public Health Ministry
Sorry, you’ll just have to wait. The Ministry of Public Health has muddied the waters further about foreigners or expats being able to access Covid vaccines in Thailand. Ministry spokesperson Rungrueng Kitphati has rolled back some of the comments that have already been made about the matter and the real world situation where some expats already registering for the next…
- Covid-19 News
Virologist urges government to carry out mass vaccination within 3 months
Prominent Thai virologist Dr. Yong Poovorawan is calling on the government to carry out mass vaccination of the population within 3 months, after a study showed that 1 dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine boosts immunity by more than 96%. Dr. Yong has been a persistent critic of the Thai government’s handling of the Covid outbreaks in the country. Posting on…
- Covid-19 News
Covid UPDATE: 1,583 new cases and 15 deaths, provincial totals
1,583 new Covid-19 cases and 15 deaths were reported today by the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Disease Control. Since the start of the pandemic last year, a total of 65,153 Covid-19 infections and 203 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Thailand. The number of daily reported infections continues to drop steadily as the government’s restrictions appear to be having…
- Thailand News
UPDATE: New provincial colour-coding announced
UPDATE: A new colour coding has been announced. Here’s the new coding, broken up into dark red, light red and orange zoned provinces. Check The Thaiger for the latest story HERE. EARLIER STORY Thailand’s provinces could see an update as early as today on whether their Covid-19 colour-coding will change as a result of the current virus wave sweeping the…
- Covid-19 News
Health Ministry to investigate death of woman following Sinovac jab
Health officials will carry out an autopsy on the body of a 23 year old woman who died days after receiving the Sinovac vaccine. Relatives of the deceased say she became ill after receiving the second dose of CoronaVac, the Covid-19 vaccine from Chinese manufacturer, Sinovac Biotech. The Bangkok Post reports that the unnamed woman, who worked as a salesperson…
- Covid-19 News
Health Minister says he’s going nowhere as opposition calls for his resignation
Thailand’s Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is defying calls for his resignation over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Members of the opposition Move Forward Party have slammed the government over how it has dealt with the third wave of Covid-19, as infections and deaths rise across the country. Critics say the current administration was not adequately prepared for a resurgence…
