Anutin confirms Thailand will buy 10 million doses of Pfizer vaccine
Thailand will purchase 10 million doses of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, Public Health Minister Anutin Chanvirakul announced via Facebook today.
Anutin said he had met Pfizer representatives on Thursday to negotiate the purchase of the vaccines. Pfizer said it was ready to supply 10 million doses to Thailand but was unable to give a timeframe for delivery.
“I asked the company to send a delivery schedule urgently along with prices and conditions of purchase,” said Anutin.
The Public Health Ministry has confirmed it is ready to amend regulations to speed up the purchase even though the Pfizer vaccine is not yet registered in Thailand. The Pfizer purchase can be made under the special law to buy vaccines for emergency situations, Anutin said.
He confirmed talks with Pfizer representatives are going well and the US-based company is expected to send vaccine to Thailand as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said 5-10 million doses of Pfizer vaccine should arrive in Thailand from July to December.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle to supply Thailand with Sputnik V vaccine, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Thursday.
The agreement came after talks between the two governments as Thailand battles a third wave of Covid-19 that emerged late last month.
Details on the amount of vaccine, price and timeframe for delivery would be determined in future talks between the company importing the vaccine and the Thai Public Health Ministry, Anucha said.
Russia said it was willing to provide vaccine support given its longstanding relationship with Thailand and continually improving relations with Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.
Prayut has instructed the Public Health Ministry to arrange talks in Thailand with the Russian producers of Sputnik V vaccine.
Faulty Sinovac batch suspected after another stroke-like reaction
A nurse suffered a “stroke-like” allergic reaction after being injected with Sinovac vaccine in Lampang, the province’s Public Health Office reported on Thursday.
The vaccine reportedly came from the same batch that caused a similar side effect in six people in Rayong earlier this month.
“The recipient is a nurse at Lampang Hospital who was vaccinated on Wednesday,” said the office’s chief, Dr Prasert Kitsuwanrat.
“About 15 minutes after the vaccination, she showed symptoms of limb weakness, dizziness and vomiting. Her symptoms have improved over time. However, we have suspended use of the batch her vaccine came from, which was designated for 800 recipients.”
Forty other people vaccinated in Lampang on Wednesday were kept overnight at the hospital to monitor their symptoms. Dr Prasert said no allergic reactions were reported among this group, refuting rumours circulating on social media.
“The hospital will now continue vaccinating the rest of the target group as planned,” he added.
A source said that the Sinovac vaccine administered on Wednesday came from a batch with the lot number J202103002 and the serial number 81901420027937950764/10. The source said this was the same lot administered to six recipients in Rayong who suffered a similar “stroke-like” reaction earlier this month.
Lampang has been allotted 1,800 doses of Sinovac vaccine for people in at-risk groups. The province’s first batch of vaccine was administered to 400 medical professionals and 500 health volunteers, with no allergic reactions reported. The nurse’s allergic reaction came after vaccination with the second batch, which began in the province on Wednesday.
37 new prisoners in Chiang Mai test positive for Covid-19
As many as 37 new arrivals at the Chiang Mai Central prison in Mae Taeng district tested positive for Covid-19, provincial public health office chief Dr Jatuchai Maneerat said on Thursday.
“We test new inmates after they have been monitored for symptoms during a 14-day quarantine and then sent to the inner zone,” he said. “All infected prisoners are separated and sent to a field hospital within the prison.
“Their treatment is closely supervised by the Chiang Mai public health office, which is also urging other prisons in the province, namely the Chiang Mai Women Correctional Institution in Muang district and Fang District Prison, to follow the protocol strictly to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among prisoners and staff,” he added.
Jatuchai said the public health office has tested 500 staff of the Chiang Mai Wing Division 41 in Muang district, and another seven personnel tested positive, bringing the total number of cases in this cluster to 60.
“We believe the numbers should not rise any further because it has been more than 14 days since the first infection was reported,” he said.
Jatuchai added that Chiang Mai has about 16,000 tablets of favipiravir in stock, which should be enough to treat Covid-19 patients in the province.
From April 1 to 22 Chiang Mai has reported 2,448 cumulative confirmed patients, while 134 persons have been cured and discharged.
Private sector eyes purchase of 5 million Covid-19 vaccines to provide free jabs
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) announced that some private companies are planning to purchase more than 5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and inoculate people free of charge.
JSCCIB has set up its own teams for dealing with the vaccine issue, especially since the government has been slow in rolling out the shots.
The teams are studying the best venues for administering Covid-19 jabs, such as department stores, banks or industrial estates. They also plan to help the government disburse vaccine information and developing a vaccine passport system.
JSCCIB has also put a team in charge of procurement and some members in the private sector have voiced interest in buying more than 5 million doses of the vaccine.
JSCCIB has also called on the government to relax its regulations on procurement so the private sector can more easily roll out a vaccination drive.
Justice minister in quarantine after guests at a party in Sukhothai test positive
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has gone into a 14-day quarantine after learning that five guests at a party he had attended in Sukhothai province had tested positive for Covid-19.
The minister said he visited Sukhothai during Songkran and acknowledge on Monday that some guests had been infected.
He added that he has called on medics from the Department of Corrections, which is under the jurisdiction of his ministry, to test him and members of his family.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Thursday reported 1,470 new cases and seven deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-related fatalities in Thailand up to 117.
There were no confirmed infections among travellers.
The fatalities included a 24-year-old woman in Phatthalung province, who had visited an entertainment venue on April 7 and tested positive on April 17. She died three days later on Tuesday. She had been suffering from obesity.
The second fatality was a 48-year-old babysitter in Saraburi who had problems with allergies. She had come in contact with a Covid patient on April 5 and was admitted to the hospital on April 19. She died the following day.
The third case was an 83-year-old Bangkok resident who suffered from high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia. He tested positive on March 24 and died on April 20.
The fourth death was that of an 80-year-old bedridden patient in Nakhon Pathom. She tested positive on April 16 and died in hospital the following day.
The fifth death was that of a 45-year-old driver in Bangkok who suffered from high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia. He had come in contact with a Covid-19 patient on April 9, was admitted to hospital on April 19 and died the following day.
The sixth death was that of a 59-year-old social enterprise worker in Bangkok who suffered from diabetes. He was admitted to hospital on April 20 and died the same day.
The seventh death was that of an 86-year-old Bangkok resident, who succumbed to a heart attack caused by complications from Covid-19. He had met a Covid-19 patient on April 5 before testing positive on April 16. He died on Wednesday (April 21).
Of the 1,458 confirmed cases, the highest number or 446 were in Bangkok, followed by 118 in Nonthaburi, 99 in Chiang Mai and 97 in Chonburi.
Meanwhile, 477 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
As of Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 48,113. Of these, 44,867 had been contracted locally, including 20,914 who were found via proactive testing, while 3,246 were returnees.
So far, 29,848 have recovered and been discharged, 18,148 are still in hospitals and 117 have died.
In the last 24 hours, 141,670 people had received their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 10,560 got their second shot, bringing the total number of doses administered in Thailand up to 864,840.
Meanwhile, according to Worldometer, as of 11am on Thursday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 144.43 million (up by 824,975), 122.6 million of whom have recovered, 18.76 million are active cases (109,845 in severe condition) and 3.07 million have died (up by 14,088).
Thailand ranks 105th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 32.6 million, followed by India 15.92 million, Brazil 14.12 million, France 5.37 million and Russia 4.72 million.
Lack of smartphone not a problem for RaoChana beneficiaries
Beneficiaries of the RaoChana (We Win) cash-handout scheme who do not have a smartphone can start purchasing goods with that money from Thursday.
People can visit the RaoChana website to see if they are eligible for the THB7,000 handout and then start spending that money by presenting their national ID card at participating shops.
Here is how to check if you are eligible for the handout:
PM orders more personnel for Covid-19 hotlines after his calls went unanswered
Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered that more personnel be deployed to man the 1668 and 1669 Covid-19 hotlines and helplines after nobody answered his call.
“Itried both numbers, but nobody answered. I want to find out if this is because there are too few health personnel manning the lines, or if they are too busy tending to patients in hospitals,” he said. Prayut said now that private hospitals have also joined the battle against Covid, he does not want to hear that ambulances are unwilling to pick up patients because there are no beds available. “I want the Public Health Ministry to urgently deal with this problem. I can’t accept the fact that entire families are getting infected because they are being denied medical help,” the premier said. Meanwhile, Dr Apisamai Srirangsan, spokesperson for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), admitted at a press conference on Wednesday that there are not enough people to answer thousands of calls on the two numbers. She advised people to remain calm as health workers are doing their best in ensuring every patient has a bed and promised that the CCSA will try to solve this problem as soon as possible.
