Thailand Accelerates Vaccination Campaign, Best Hope To Return Normalcy

By Linda Khoo Hui Li BANGKOK, June 4 (Bernama) – Jimmy Tangjaitrong proudly rolls up his sleeve to receive the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) in Bangkok. The 38-year-old lecturer decided to get vaccinated to protect himself and loved ones from COVID-19. He hopes others will get vaccinated too. “The COVID-19 vaccine is another layer of protection. The vaccine may not protect us 100 per cent but experts have said vaccination greatly reduces the severity of the infection and chances of death. “It is probably the best thing we can do to protect ourselves and love ones,” he told Bernama. Jimmy is among 4 million people in Thailand who received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine of the AstraZeneca or Sinovac since the vaccine drive kicked-off on February 28. Thailand is set to accelerate vaccinations, starting with mass vaccinations fron June 7 to inoculate 70 per cent of its almost 70 million population, including 3 million foreigners living in the country to achieve herd immunity by the year end. However, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Thailand could achieve the target as early as September. Thailand had relatively low COVID-19 cases till mid-December where an outbreak began at a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon, a province southwest of Bangkok. Then another outbreak emerged in April, dynamized by clusters from entertainment venues in Bangkok. The highly-contagious Alpha variant fueled a rise in infections nationwide. At present, Thailand is fighting a fierce third wave of infections, the country’s worst outbreak yet. As of June 3, a total of 169,348 COVID-19 cases reported and death toll stood at 1,146 since the outbreak in January last year. The current outbreak, since the start of April recorded a total of 140,485 cases and 1,052 fatalities. Accelerating the vaccination drive through mass vaccination drive appears possible now as locally-manufactured AstraZeneca vaccine will be available. Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is to deliver the first batch of 1.8 million doses of its vaccine produced locally by Siam Bioscience Co., Ltd. (Siam Bioscience) for the purpose. Deputy director-general at the Department of Disease Control Dr Sopon Iamsirithawon said Thailand targets to administer about 500,000 doses a day as more shots will be available. To date, Thailand has procured 61 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines and 6 million doses of Chinese Sinovac. For now, Thailand is racing to secure millions of doses in vaccines. Director of the National Vaccine Institute Dr Nakorn Premsri said Thailand to procure additional 10 to 15 million doses of Sinovac vaccine which is expected to be delivered starting this month. “At present, we are negotiating to buy 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and 5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. These vaccines will be delivered in the third quarter this year,” he said. He added that Thailand to import alternative vaccines such as Sinopharm and Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines to supplement the government vaccination campaign. To date, Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved five COVID-19 vaccines – Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Sinopharm but so far only the first two are available for use. In bid to boost inoculation in the kingdom, various measures and strategies have been implemented. The government set up 25 other venues in Bangkok, including shopping malls and universities to help 126 hospitals in vaccination drive. Besides that, Suvarnabhumi Airport and Bang Sue Railway Central Station also serve as vaccination centres. The government also modifying its vaccination strategy to focus worst-hit areas and sectors including tourism hotspots, construction workers’ camp, factories and prisons to halt the spread of COVID-19. Bangkok, the epicentre in the latest outbreak aims to inoculate 5 million or 70 percent of the capital’s residents by July in bid to control the situation. “If we can’t control the situation in Bangkok, we can’t control the outbreak in other provinces,” said Disease Control Department Director-General Dr Opas Karnkawinpong recently. However, many are hesitating to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand. A survey by polling firm YouGov showed vaccine hesitancy has risen sharply. In January, 83 per cent of Thais surveyed were willing to be vaccinated, but by May it dropped to 63 per cent in the same poll, lower than Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines at 83 per cent, 77 and 66 per cent willingness, respectively. The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s representative to Thailand, Dr Daniel Kertesz said prioritization will be the key to success in Thailand’s vaccination roll out. “Thailand is (currently) in the same situation as most countries in the world, many people want to vaccinate but limited vaccine with which to do it. “The ultimate goal would be to vaccinate everyone who is eligible but it is not possible in the short term. I think the really important lesson is that prioritization will be the key success of Thailand’ vaccination roll out,” he said at a briefing on Thailand’s National Vaccine Roll Out recently. Dr Daniel said WHO strongly recommend high-risk groups and those vulnerable groups to be vaccinated first when supply of vaccines is limited. As Thailand continues to record four-digit new COVID-19 daily for almost two months, Thai government is banking on vaccination to combat a rapidly spreading third wave of COVID-19 infections. Vaccination campaign is the best hope for an improved economy and return to normalcy. No one is safe until everyone is safe. -- BERNAMA