A 69-year-old Thai woman and a representative of World Health Organization (WHO) regional office in Thailand became the first two individuals to receive the doses of the locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine today, at the vaccination service centre at the Ministry of Public Health.
The event, which comes ahead of the start of the country’s mass vaccination campaign on Monday, was witnessed by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and senior health officials.
Jurairat Rewong and Dr. Daniel A. Kertesz, of the WHO regional office, were each given 0.5ml of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Jurairat told the media that she was happy to be inoculated with the locally-produced vaccine, saying that she had carefully studied the matter and is confident of its safety and efficacy.
Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Kiatiphum Wongrachit, who administered the vaccine, said he was glad to do the job with the locally-produced vaccine and urged everyone to register for vaccination.
Mass vaccinations will start on Monday in Bangkok and several other provinces, which have received the vaccine from the ministry. The first group to be inoculated are elderly people over 60 and those suffering from any of seven non-communicable underlying diseases.
