February 10 According to a report by Taiwan’s “Central News Agency” Bangkok on February 9, Thailand hopes that the national coronavirus vaccination can be completed by two-thirds of the eligible population by the end of this year.
It will rely on the Beijing Kexing Company’s vaccine to start vaccination first to pave the way for Thailand’s tourism industry to reopen.
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Shenwei Lakong said that regulators expect to approve the emergency use of the Kohing vaccine later this month, which corresponds to the arrival time of the first 200,000 doses of Kohing vaccine.
However, he said that if the national vaccination is to be met, it still needs to be supplemented by the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine approved for domestic production in Thailand.
The Thai authorities had earlier thought that after receiving 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, the first-line medical staff would be vaccinated on February 14, but the supply dispute between AstraZeneca and the European Union affected the delivery schedule to Thailand.
AFP reported that AstraZeneca vaccine was rumored to be low in protection against coronavirus variants found in South Africa, causing South Africa to suspend vaccinations.
But the World Health Organization insists that AstraZeneca vaccine is still an important tool for the global fight against the pandemic.
Richard Harchett, head of the WHO’s COVID-19 vaccine implementation program, is convinced that “it’s too early to deny this vaccine.” A spokesman for AstraZeneca said affirmatively: “We believe that our vaccine can effectively prevent severe diseases.”
