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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004474

Stop exporting AstraZeneca jabs, doctor tells govt

A Mahidol University professor launched a campaign from Sunday calling on the government to stop exporting AstraZeneca vaccines until the Thai population has been inoculated.

The campaign was launched on www.change.org by Dr Prasert Auewarakul from Siriraj Hospital’s Faculty of Medicine, and as of 2pm on Tuesday it had won 2,058 signatures.

“The vaccine donations and batches expected to arrive soon may make people believe Thailand’s vaccine situation is good. However, I’ve heard from people related to the vaccine campaign that things will worsen in the next two to three months and Thailand will suffer a severe shortage of doses,” the campaign read.

Prasert said the premier can under the law limit or suspend the export of AstraZeneca vaccines produced locally by Siam BioScience.

“If Thailand can procure another 20 or 30 million doses for the next three months, it will be able to control the pandemic effectively and fatalities will drop as well,” he said.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004473

Thailand’s arsenal against Covid-19

Six Covid-19 vaccines have been registered with the Thai Food and Drug Administration and about 20 million doses have been administered to the public, so far.

However, 76.1 per cent of the population has not been inoculated, 23.9 per cent have received at least one jab, and of them 6.7 per cent are fully vaccinated, while 0.3 per cent have received a booster shot.

The government has either put in orders or imported vaccines registered with the Thai FDA.

The vaccines are:

• AstraZeneca: Produced by Siam Bioscience under the support of AstraZeneca (Thailand)
• Sinovac (CoronaVac): Imported from China by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation
• Johnson & Johnson (Janssen): Imported by Janssen Cilag Co, Ltd
• Moderna: Imported by Zuellig Pharma Ltd
• Sinopharm (Covilo): Imported by Biogenetech Co.,Ltd
• Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty): Imported by Pfizer (Thailand)

The two vaccines currently being assessed are:

• Russia’s Sputnik V: Imported by Kingen Biotech Co, Ltd
• India’s Covaxin: Imported by Biogenetech Co.,Ltd

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Thailand’s arsenal against Covid-19

Published : August 10, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004470

Prayut bows to court ruling, lifts restrictions on news reporting

In line with last week’s Civil Court ruling, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday officially lifted restrictions on media reporting news that may incite public fear or affect national stability.

The restrictions were issued under the Emergency Decree’s Article 9 and put into effect on July 30.

On Friday, the Civil Court ordered the premier to suspend all restrictions in response to a petition filed on August 2 by media organisation Reporter Production.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004471

Some Covid-19 patients under home isolation running Favipiravir racket, says doctor

A doctor from Bangkok’s Ramathibodi Hospital said on Monday that some Covid-19 patients who are isolating at home have started selling their Favipiravir pills on the black market.

In a Facebook post, Dr Surawej Numhom said many Covid-19 patients who are having to isolate at home due to insufficient hospital beds are taking advantage of a weak checking system and demanding more Favipiravir tablets. These extra pills are then sold in the black market at a “beautiful price”.

He said hospitals did not check the delivery of medicines too closely, because they aim to treat patients as quickly as possible. However, Surawej warned that if this black marketeering continues, the checking system will be made more thorough and patients will have to wait a lot longer for their prescription.

“The bureaucratic system is already so slow. Don’t be selfish at a time like this. Medics and patients have to help each other to get over this crisis,” he said.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004468

Thailand hits new record with 235 deaths, 19,843 infections

After a slight dip in numbers over the past two days, Thailand hit a new high on Tuesday with 235 deaths. The number of new cases was slightly below the 20,000 mark at 19,843.

Of the 19,843 new cases, 398 are prisoners.

Meanwhile, 22,806 patients have recovered and been discharged over the past 24 hours.

Since the epidemic started last year, Thailand has had 795,951 Covid-19 cases, 578,140 of whom have recovered, 211,223 are still in hospital and 6,588 have died.

Separately, another 350,389 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 104,484 their second shot, and 46,457 their third shot, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in Thailand to 21,171,110.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 204.13 million, 183.31 million of whom have recovered, 16.51 million are active cases (99,242 in severe condition) and 4.31 million have died (up by 8,034).

Thailand ranks 36th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 36.78 million, followed by India with 31.99 million, Brazil with 20.17 million, Russia with 6.46 million and France 6.31 million.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004467

Agency demands fair distribution of Pfizer shots among medics

The Health Personnel Association of Thailand launched a campaign on Monday calling on the government to ensure every frontline medic gets a Pfizer shot and that the vaccine is equitably distributed.

The association’s campaign, titled “Every qualified frontline medical personnel should receive Pfizer”, was launched via Facebook.

“The association invites all frontline medics, who are qualified for a Pfizer shot and have registered, to co-sign the petition. This campaign calls on the government to provide the vaccine we deserve and to demonstrate the power of medical personnel. We have been requesting mRNA vaccines from the start, but now many of us are not eligible. Some hospitals insist on using Pfizer as booster shots only for medics who have received two doses of Sinovac, which does not follow the current criterion.

“The Pfizer vaccine is not being properly distributed as some provinces with low infection rates are getting more doses than the ones with higher infection rates.
“This is affecting our morale and having us question the distribution procedure,” the post read.

The association has also issued a list of steps it wants the Public Health Ministry to take to ensure the Pfizer vaccines are distributed fairly:

• Deliver Pfizer doses as a booster shot, two doses for the unvaccinated and as the second shot for those needing one. The vaccine must be delivered to every frontline medic who has registered. The government must meet the shortfall if the 700,000 doses allocated to frontline medics is inadequate.
• The government has to be transparent about how the doses are being distributed to provinces and hospitals.
• Show how many doses each province has sought and how many they are receiving.
• Provide details on the distribution of the second lot of Pfizer jabs for medics, including details on how much each province will be allocated.

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The Health Personnel Association of Thailand is urging all qualified medical staff who have not received a Pfizer jab to click on https://tinyurl.com/WhereIsOurPfizer
 or use the provided QR code to express their interest. Collected information will be used to push for fair policymaking, the post said.

Thailand has received a donation of 1.5 million Pfizer doses from the US and has put in an order for 10 million doses.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004463

THB1 million compensation for family of murdered Swiss tourist

The family of the Swiss tourist murdered in Phuket last Thursday will receive a compensation of THB1 million from the Foreign Tourists Assistance Fund, Ministry of Tourism and Sports permanent secretary Chote Trachu said on Monday.

Authorities have arrested and charged Teerawat Thothip, 27, an unemployed local, for killing 57-year-old Swiss national Nicole Sauvain Weisskopf at the Ton Ao Yon waterfall in Phuket’s Muang district on August 3.

The suspect was arrested on Saturday and has reportedly confessed to the crime, saying he intended to rob, not kill the victim. He has been charged with robbery and causing death.

The deceased had entered Thailand to travel under the Phuket sandbox programme and was allowed to stay in the province until August 26.

THB1 million compensation for family of murdered Swiss tourist

Chote met Swiss Ambassador Helene Budliger Artieda on Monday to inform her of the compensation to be provided to the deceased’s family. The ministry also promised to facilitate travel for the family if they wished to take the body back.

“Tourism Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn has been discussing with Phuket authorities and police measures to increase security for tourists under the sandbox programme,” said Chote. “Initially, the authorities agreed to install additional CCTV cameras at tourist attractions in Phuket and increase the number of volunteer security staff at each attraction.

“We will also increase screening measures for Thais and foreigners who wish to enter the province at Tha Chatchai Checkpoint and will especially look for those with arrest warrants.

“As for the long-term measures, the ministry will survey all tourist attractions in the province and consider closing down sites that are not popular and are isolated,” added Chote.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004459

Bangkok Airways welcomes and congratulates Olympic hero Sudaporn “Taew” Srisondee

Congratulates Olympic hero Sudaporn “Taew” Srisondee and Thailand Boxing Association team at Samui Airport

Bangkok Airways represented by Mrs. Marisa Pongpattanapun, Director – Ground Services (4th from right) welcomed and congratulated Ms. Sudaporn Srisondee (Taew) (5th from right), the first Thai female boxer who secured an Olympic bronze medal for Thailand at the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Mrs. Marisa also extended a warm welcome to the Thailand Boxing Association team led by Mr. Somchai Poonsawat, Team Manger and Technical Chairman (6th from right) to Samui Airport. The whole team decided to do a required 14 days quarantine in Koh Samui.

They travelled on Bangkok Airways flight PG5171 from Bangkok to Samui which is a specially-operated flight for international passengers transiting in Bangkok to Koh Samui as part of the Samui Plus Model project.

Published : August 10, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004458

Thai police ready to aid US probe into plot to kill Myanmars UN ambassador

Thai police will provide full cooperation to United States authorities, if requested, in the investigation of two Myanmar citizens who were allegedly plotting to kill their countrys ambassador to the United Nations, Pol General Krisana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Police, told a press conference on Monday.

On August 6, VOA News reported that authorities in the US had arrested two Myanmar citizens residing in New York in connection with an alleged plot to kill Kyaw Moe Tun, who was making a three-finger salute in protest against the military coup in Myanmar when he addressed the General Assembly on February 26, 2021 in New York.

According to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, Phyo Hein Htut had hatched a plot with an arms dealer in Thailand who sells weapons to the Myanmar military.

Under the plan, Phyo Hein Htut would “hire attackers to hurt the ambassador in an attempt to force the ambassador to step down from his post. If the ambassador did not step down, then the arms dealer proposed that the attackers hired by Htut would kill the ambassador.”

The second defendant, Ye Hein Zaw, allegedly was going to send money to Phyo Hein Htut to finance the attack, which was to take place near New York City.

Krisana said that Thai Police is preparing to cooperate with the investigation since the case involved a party from Thailand. “However, so far US authorities have not made any request,” he said.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004457

Airlines allowed to fly chartered flights from Phuket to Suvarnabhumi

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has allowed chartered flights from Phuket to land at Suvarnabhumi Airport to facilitate departure from the province for tourists visiting under the sandbox programme.

The CAAT explanation on Monday came after news of foreign tourists in Phuket having to travel by buses to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan province to catch a flight home, raising questions whether the CAAT had prohibited the flights from Phuket to Suvarnabhumi.

“On July 18, the CAAT barred domestic passenger flights to and from provinces classified as ‘dark red’ due to the Covid-19 situation, which includes Samut Prakan,” said the authority. “However, exceptions have been made for tourists under the Phuket sandbox programme who wish to leave the province.

“Chartered flights from Phuket can still land at Suvarnabhumi Airport to transport foreign passengers. However, so far no airline has applied to operate such flights from Phuket, probably due to low number of passengers, which could make the flight less cost effective,” it added.

The CAAT added that flights from Phuket to U-Tapao Airport in Rayong province are still available and could be an alternative for tourists under the sandbox programme.

“We have instructed airlines operating flights to U-Tapao to provide shuttle buses from U-Tapao to Suvarnabhumi, which should help tourists from Phuket who wish to return home while there are still no chartered flights available directly from Phuket,” the agency said.

Published : August 10, 2021

By : THE NATION