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The first 60.000 doses of a Chinese Covid vaccine procured by the Pattaya Municipality will arrive this month.
Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome says the city will pay 88 million baht to the Chulabhorn Royal Academy for a total of 100.000 doses of BBIBP-CorV, developed by the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group. Both the company and the drug are commonly referred to as Sinopharm.
The municipality of Pattaya decided to purchase earlier because they do not want to wait for the vaccines provided by the government (editor: many Thai think that Bangkok will take precedence and the other provinces will therefore have to wait longer). The intention is to vaccinate as many people as possible who work in the tourism sector.
Vaccinations will be administered at Pattaya Hospital, which can only vaccinate 2.500-3.000 people a day, Sonthaya said. The vaccines are not free because they are not provided by the central government. Two doses cost 1.776 baht.
Only people who are registered in Pattaya and have not yet received a dose of another corona vaccine are eligible for the injections.
Sonthaya said non-residents and foreigners should use the vaccines provided by the central government. Possibly if any Sinopharm vaccines remain, they could be provided to expats and non-resident Thais.
Source: Pattaya Mail
Depending on the source, the effectiveness of the Sinopharm vaccine would be 50 to 70%. For example, for Pfizer and Moderna it is 94-95%.
Even the chief executive of China's disease control agency spoke to the media about the low level of protection offered by Sinopharm.
50% protection is still better than no vaccine at all, of course.
The effectiveness of vaccines are twofold: 1 the prevention of a new infection. For Sinopharm and Sinovac this is indeed relatively low at 70-80%, with other vaccines often 90-95%. But more important is the prevention of serious symptoms, hospitalization and mortality. That is actually high for all vaccines: 2-90%. In the US, it has already been shown that 95% of all covid admissions are unvaccinated. I wouldn't much care what vaccine I get.
Agree with Tino. As far as I'm concerned, it's also: eating what the pot eats. Why should one be entitled to a slightly better known vaccine like Pfizer and the other not? Equal monks, equal hoods. As long as vaccines are approved, I'm confident. The American figures are telling in this regard.
Nice initiative from the city. It's just a pity that no one does anything about it. It is again a worthless vaccine against the DELTA Variant. After 1,5 years there is hardly any Pfizer or Moderna available . And then people have to pay for this rubbish . Curious which Thai will pay 1776 baht for that
I think I get from the article that expats, foreigners, can possibly get if there are vaccines left. Hadn't we already passed that stage?
Yes, things are going well and certainly in Pattaya. This is what the people need. Next to Sinovac, the other little brother that does something in protection, but not much. What have all those Chinese actually been given and how are things really going there. What I hear in my area in Pattaya is that people are very disappointed with how things are going with the vaccines at the moment. There will be many who do not want to use this remedy. There is still something left for the foreigners. Like they are waiting for it. No, the outcome will partly depend on the sputnik vaccine, which Prayut and associates apparently also have a high regard for. From a friendly nation. This government continues to want to solve the matter with palliative measures and the protests are not going to get any less. To be continued.
It is sad that the government continues to cling to the Chinese vaccines, which are worthless compared to the mRNA vaccines. Apparently a lot of money must be involved due to shareholder involvement and the well-known corruption. During the strikes and protests, people are clearly asking to switch to the vaccines with proven effectiveness. The answer is given with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.
This is what everyone is waiting for. It will come spring 2022 or summer 2022. The very own Thai brew.
– the Baiya SARS-CoV Vax1 (Plant-based)
– the Chula CoV-19 (rnRNA Vaccine)
– the NDV-HXP-S (Inactivated vaccine)
It takes a while but then we can breathe easy again.
And how long will it take before these “concoctions”, as you neatly point out, will be recognized by the WHO? Even the Astra Zeneca vaccine produced in Thailand has not yet received approval. It can probably offer relief (if it is effective) to the Thai population, but a vaccination certificate with these products will not get you further than Thailand.
Dear Yan, I think I'll also write this down and add some extra wood to the fire. Whether this will bring results, certainly not in the short term and whether this also works well, I don't know either. We'll have to wait and see. I'm not in the forefront of trying this out. I don't know why Thailand developed this itself. They may want to earn money from it themselves and demonstrate that they are capable of manufacturing it. I agree with you that if there is no international recognition of these vaccines, traveling is out of the question for the people vaccinated with them.
Sinopharm is my preference, so bring it on.
Sinopharm has WHO emergency approval, just like AZ, J&J, PB, Moderna, etc…
https://www.hln.be/buitenland/who-geeft-noodgoedkeuring-aan-chinees-sinopharm-vaccin~a330787a/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Chula Cov-19 mRNA vaccine is in phase 2 of the testing process.
https://www.newswise.com/coronavirus/chulacov19-thailand-s-first-covid-19-vaccine-has-been-tested-on-humans