Thai health ministry now says they will be giving free jabs to expats

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puan
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Re: Thai health ministry now says they will be giving free jabs to expats

Post by puan »

An interesting read from CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/07/asia ... r8IR58ljH4


EXCERPT FROM THE ABOVE CNN ARTICLE:

Thailand
Despite being the first country to report a Covid-19 case outside of China in January last year, Thailand kept its infection numbers low in 2020 thanks to successful containment measures.
This year, however, it is facing a much bigger challenge. After containing a second wave that started last December, Thailand is struggling to curb a third wave of infections that has pushed daily caseloads and death tolls to unprecedented levels.
Before the start of the latest wave, Thailand had reported 28,863 cases by March 31. In five weeks, that number has more than doubled to surpass 76,000. On Friday alone, it reported 1,911 new cases.
The ongoing outbreak has been traced to a number of nightlife venues in Bangkok. On April 5, the city announced the closure of 196 entertainment venues for two weeks. But the virus kept spreading. It was further exacerbated by mass travel for the Songkran Thai New Year in mid-April, when hundreds of thousands of Thais visited families and beaches.

The Chalerm Prakiat Bang Mod sports stadium in Bangkok has been converted into a field hospital to treat coronavirus patients.
Wayo Assawarungruang, an opposition member of parliament who oversees his party's public health policy, said some hospitals in Bangkok had denied patients coronavirus tests because they didn't have enough beds available and were required by the government to immediately admit positive patients.
Authorities have set up field hospitals, using sports centers, conference halls and hotels to accommodate anyone infected with the virus, including asymptomatic cases, to curb the spread in communities.
On Tuesday, the Thai government launched a campaign to vaccinate 50,000 people living in a densely packed district in Bangkok, after more than 300 residents were infected.
The government has been criticized for acting too slowly in rolling out its vaccines. In a country of nearly 70 million people, only two doses have been administered for every 100 people so far.
gera

Re: Thai health ministry now says they will be giving free jabs to expats

Post by gera »

While i understand the anxiety about vaccination , keep in mind that vaccine is not a panacea. The rule of thumb is the older you are the less chance that a vaccine provide a reasonable level of protection. As is always the case with epidemics , the major goal of a mass vaccination is to reach the herd immunity (and recently I think more and more about mankind as a big herd and nothing else ) and not a protection of a concrete individual.
Vaccines will definitely come to Thailand (and hopefully not Chinese shit) within next few months. Meanwhile hanker down in your house or condo.
There are plenty of delivery options in Pattaya. Netflix and HBO go are easily available. And spending time in Jomtien beach is healthy and relatively safe. Try to make the best out of the shitty times we have to live through. As for Thai government , they need to seal off Bangkok ASAP. Should have done it long time ago.
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Re: Thai health ministry now says they will be giving free jabs to expats

Post by Gaybutton »

Bangkok adds more jab stations

Several shopping malls to feature vaccination stations with daily capacity of 1,000 to 3,000 people

8 May 2021

City Hall will add more Covid-19 vaccination stations in Bangkok for a total of 25 to speed up inoculations in the capital. The first site will be opened at Central Plaza Ladprao shopping centre on Wednesday.

Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) met on Saturday with representatives of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, including chairman Sanan Angubolkul, and other agencies to discuss vaccination cooperation.

The city administration and the chamber earlier struck a deal to set up 14 vaccination sites outside hospitals.

The 14 places are the SCG head office in Bang Sue, Central Plaza Ladprao, The Mall Bangkapi, Robinson Lat Krabang, Tesco Lotus Minburi, Samyan Mitrtown, True Digital Park, Thanya Park, Asiatique, Central Plaza Pinklao, Iconsiam, a PTT station on Rama II Road, The Mall Bangkae and Big C Bang Bon.

The chamber later proposed 11 more sites. Now, equipment is being prepared and the BMA Health Department will check to make sure everything meets the standard requirements.

Each of the 25 vaccination sites will have capacity to inoculate 1,000 to 3,000 people a day, according to the BMA. All 25 could vaccinate between 38,000 and 50,000 people daily.

All sites will provide the service for seven months. A trial run of the system will take place at Central Plaza Ladprao on Tuesday. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will open it the next day.

The venue plans to inoculate 1,000 people a day, from 8am to 5pm. Target groups are medical frontline workers and people with at-risk careers such as garbage-collecting staff in the BMA’s 50 districts and teachers. The other vaccination venues will open gradually.

Participants at Saturday's meeting agreed to give priority for vaccination to medical frontline staff, as well as teachers who work closely with students. In Bangkok, there are more than 160,000 teachers at pre-school, primary, secondary and vocational educational levels.

After these groups get vaccinated, high-risk groups with seven chronic diseases and the elderly will be given the shots, according to the BMA.

Bangkok logged the highest number infections of any province on Saturday with 1,112 out of the 2,419 new cases reported by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... b-stations
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Moderna package likely below B3,000

Private hospitals agree on standard price including service fee, insurance and VAT; Sinopharm next on list

8 May 2021

The price for a package of two shots of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine offered by private hospitals will be no more than 3,000 baht, hospital executives say.

The Private Hospital Association announced the plan after a meeting on Thursday to discuss a common approach to offering alternative vaccines. Moderna is likely to be the first brand to be ordered by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) on their behalf.

Private hospitals have started surveying the demand for the vaccine. Once they get an estimated number, they will ask the GPO to buy it for them, Dr Chalerm Harnphanich, chairman of the association, said after the online meeting.

All member hospitals agreed to offer the package at the same price, estimated at not more than 3,000 baht, including service fee, insurance and value-added tax, said Dr Chalerm, also chairman and CEO of SET-listed Bangkok Chain Hospital Plc.

He said the Moderna vaccine cost $37 to $38 (1,200 baht) a dose. Two doses are required.

The hospitals are also working with the General Insurance Association and the Office of the Insurance Commission on coverage in case of side effects or allergies.

The premiums are likely to be 50-100 baht for the coverage of 90-100 days after the first shot.

If side effects are serious and required hospitalisation, the insured will be compensated with 100,000 baht or 1 million in case of death.

Dr Chalerm was not sure about the arrival time of the vaccine but assured there would be no delay.

“As soon as the Food and Drug Administration approves it and we receive the products, we will distribute them to over 400 [private] hospitals nationwide as soon as possible,” he added. The FDA is expected to approve the vaccine this month.

GPO director Dr Vitoon Danwiboon said Covid vaccine would be on the Commerce Ministry’s price control list.

He added GPO had to act as the intermediary due to restrictions on the emergency use of Covid vaccines, which require vaccine manufacturers to deal only with the government.

Dr Chalerm said interested people must register with the Mor Prom Line Official Account or app to centralise population data.

“If you are not sure whether you should get the shots provided by the government or private hospitals, we advise you to get the free shots by the government given the situation today,” he said.

As of Saturday, however, there was no option for people to choose to be vaccinated by private hospitals through the channel.

Dr Chalerm also said vaccine bookings by private hospitals could not be done now. “Since no alternative vaccines have arrived in Thailand, a private hospital cannot legally open registration for them,” he said.

Last year, a hospital was fined by the FDA for breaking its advertising law when it invited people to register to get a shot. The FDA said advertising any product or service that one doesn’t have in hand was illegal.

Apart from Moderna, private hospitals are looking at Sinopharm, a Chinese-made vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation on Friday.

Since Sinopharm is a “dead virus” vaccine, Dr Charlerm said private hospitals could order it directly from an importer but had to ask the GPO to register it first. They could not import it by themselves since they don’t have licences to import biological products.

Private hospitals nationwide will help the government administer free vaccines under the Mor Prom programme. The vaccines used by the government are made by AstraZeneca (AZD1222), Sinovac Biotech (CoronaVac), Pfizer (Comirnaty), Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and Russia’s Gamaleya (Sputnik V).

Because of this, they are not allowed to commercially vaccinate people using these five vaccines due to conflict of interests, according to sources.

Slow bookings

The government opened registration for free vaccine last Saturday, targeting 16 million people — 11.7 million aged 60 or more and 4.3 million with the following conditions: severe respiratory disease, heart and arterial disease, chronic kidney failure, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

A week later, only 1.55 million people registered — 1.25 million through the Mor Prom Line official account and app and 296,000 through hospitals and village volunteers, according to the Public Health Ministry data at 4pm on Saturday.

Vaccination will begin in June and the shots administered will be AstraZeneca made by the local company Siam Bioscience Co.

Authorities said on Friday the National Communicable Disease Committee had approved the use of Sinovac shots on people aged 60 or more, citing a “clearer study” in China.

The administration of the vaccine in the age group will begin in Covid-hit areas after the Food and Drug Administration changed its regulations accordingly.

Earlier, the vaccine was not used on people in the age group because the clinical trial in China did not include them.

Sinovac has not been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization. The WHO had previously only approved the vaccines made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... low-b3-000
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