Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul are due to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine injections this Sunday, at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute, according to Dr. Sophon Mekthon, chairman of the COVID-19 vaccine management subcommittee.
He did not give any details about which vaccines, from China (Sinovac) or from the UK (AstraZeneca), will used to inoculate to the two ministers, but said that both have been approved for their efficacy.
For the general public, vaccinations will start on March 1st.
200,000 doses of Sinovac and 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines have already arrived in Thailand. According to the vaccine management plan, frontline health officials and those working in close contact with the infected, people over 60 and those with congenital diseases in nine high-risk provinces, including Bangkok and 13 provinces of economic and social importance, will be the first to receive the vaccines.
The second lot of the Sinovac vaccine, totaling 1.8 million doses, are due in March and April and two more lots of the AstraZeneca version, 26 million and 35 million doses, are due in June-August and September-December.
The prime minister has said he is ready to be vaccinated, depending on the allocation of vaccines by the National Vaccine Institute and the Disease Control Department.
Meanwhile, Thailand recorded 45 new COVID-19 cases and 218 new recoveries today as the rater of new infections shows signs of slowing down, according to CCSA.
Of the 45 new infections today, 37 are locally acquired cases, including five found by proactive screening and 32 among those under observation. There are only eight cases among foreign arrivals in state quarantine.
Cumulative infections, since early last year, are 25,809 and 24,952 patients have recovered, including 218 cases today. 774 others are still being treated in hospitals. The death toll remains 83.
