Thailand To Secure More Vaccine Supplies Amid Mass Vaccination

By Linda Khoo Hui Li BANGKOK, June 8 (Bernama) -- Thailand to procure 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson - as the kingdom rushes to secure sufficient vaccine supplies amid its mass vaccination drive which kicked off on Monday. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan o-cha announced that the government would acquire more vaccines beside those purchased earlier. He said the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be delivered in the second half of the year. However, Prayuth did not detail the breakdown for each vaccine. “Thailand to purchase additional 8 million doses of Sinovac vaccine… We hope to achieve 100 million doses of vaccine in total this year,” he said during a press conference after chairing weekly cabinet meeting Tuesday. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Thailand would purchase 20 million doses of Pfizer and 5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine On Monday, Thailand kicked off its long-awaited mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19, with the aim of vaccinating 70 per cent of its nearly 70 million population by the end of this year to achieve herd immunity. Meanwhile, Thailand recorded 2,662 new COVID-19 cases and 28 fatalities over the last 24 hours, bringing the total infections in the kingdom to 182,548 and 1,297 deaths, to date. Of the 2,662 new cases, 2,646 were local transmission of which 617 detected through active case detection and 16 being imported cases. The new cases include 534 prisoners. Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said Bangkok topped the list with highest number of cases at 1,098, followed by Samut Prakan (269) and Pathum Thani (80). He said the new fatalities involved 17 women and 11 men aged between 40 and 92 years old including 23 in Bangkok and one each in Chachoengsao, Nakhon Ratchasima, Ratchaburi, Pathum Thani and Surat Thani. He said there were 74 clusters in 35 districts in Bangkok including at construction workers’ camp, factories and market. “A total of 49,252 patients remain hospitalized including 1,281 in serious conditions and 359 on ventilators,” he said during the COVID-19 daily briefing today. To date, a total of 4.63 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine, either AstraZeneca or Sinovac. Meanwhile, as Phuket prepares to welcome vaccinated tourist starting July 1, a total of 400,000 people in the resort island have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. -- BERNAMA