Vaccination in Bangkok goes in fits and starts
(Anupong457 / Shutterstock.com)
The vaccination campaign in Bangkok is not going smoothly. Some Thai people have to wait hours for the vaccination and in a injection site in the Bang Khae shopping center, which received a visit from Minister Anutin (public health) yesterday, only 500 doses were available while there is capacity for three thousand people a day.
The minister had no explanation for this, according to him, two million doses were provided to Bangkok last week for the campaign that started Monday.
That the situation in Thailand is very different is evident from the criticism that Governor Jirakiat Phumsawat received from Kanchanaburi. Only ten people have been vaccinated in Sangkhla Buri district. According to him, they were the only ones who registered on the Mor Prom app. There is sufficient supply because the province has received 7.500 doses. These have gone to all those in the thirteen districts who have used the app to register.
Doubts about production capacity of Siam Bioscience
Malaysian Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (Science) thinks deliveries of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in Thailand will be delayed. He did not say how long deliveries will be delayed. Other countries in Southeast Asia are also reporting delays in deliveries by Siam Bioscience, which licenses the vaccine to AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca has so far produced 1,8 million doses for Thailand and last week said more are on the way in June, but deliveries to other Southeast Asian countries would not begin until July.
Siam Bioscience did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Source: Bangkok Post
Siam Bioscience did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
(Unfortunately!) people (myself included) are right. I wrote it more often: the Thai government has waited WAY too long to secure vaccines that the whole world is fighting for.
I read this sentence in the article above: “Doubts about Siam Bioscience's production capacity” and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This was about to happen… a blind man could see it.
Where the EU bought billions of vaccines, Thailand failed hopelessly (something with putting all the eggs in 1 basket). We are not talking here whether the (failed) organization of the OS or a World Cup or European Championship football. Regardless of whether the measures to suppress this "pandemic" make sense or not: the economic consequences can be called disastrous for many Thai people, you can at least expect that the Thai rulers will do everything they can to prevent that secure vaccines. They didn't do this.
Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Sputnik V: too little, too late. Moreover, the organization now appears to be lacking and the Thai government has therefore not been able to prevent the average Thai from not seeing the benefit of vaccination ("In the district of Sangkhla Buri only ten people were vaccinated. According to him, they were the only ones who had registered on the Mor Prom app”).
The country of Thailand was given every opportunity to conclude contracts with vaccine makers (November 2020: Mexico contracts for 34.4 million Pfizer vaccines… they do).
Mi has let Thailand lull itself to sleep and thought it would escape the dance.
At the beginning of this year, Thailand initially tried to obtain free vaccines through the UN/WHO Covax programme. Failed: Thailand was not recognized as a poor country. Can't either, because it has a supra-rich top layer. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2063771/govt-goes-cool-on-joining-vaccine-pact (Bangkok Post dated Feb 7 last)
Subsequently, Siam Bioscience made a deal with Astra Zeneca for the production of at least 60 doses for Thailand alone. Delivery of 10 million doses is expected this month. See previous posts on Thailandblog about vaccination planning in/from Thailand. Please note: planning in Thailand means words, not deeds. If each jab could be placed for eg 150 baht each and for farang for 10 times, then sufficient efficient preparation would have taken place. But the upper echelon is really not going to fund vaccination programs for the common people.
All countries have had initial problems. But this in Thailand is so recognizable.. In all the years that I have been in Thailand (and there have been quite a few) I have often been surprised about the way things are organized and / or the lack of its logic. That's typical Thai and part of being Thai. I can't make anything else out of it.
Often the dance is avoided and people laugh again the next day. What is that crazy farang so worried about?
But that won't be so easy this time. The consequences are already huge and will increase, I'm afraid. Hope for a quick restart for tourism will take much longer this way. I hope they can pick up and there learn something.
But to be honest, I don't think so. It's a shame because the economic consequences will be enormous, especially for the common man. An expensive price is paid for the Thai way of life.
“trillions of vaccines”….
You mean billions. A common mistake.
English: billion = billion in NLs = 1000 million (1 with 9 zeros)
English: trillion = trillion in NLs = 1000 billion (1 with 12 zeros)
The situation in Thailand is judged far too negatively. Communication is not optimal because everyone who thinks they have something of stature tumble over each other with contradictory messages, but it was and is no different with on in Belgium. Also look at the vaccination figures: in Belgium, slightly less than 5,4 million have been put as of yesterday, half of which are completely ready. Belgium already started injecting last January, so it has been going on for more than 5 months. Thailand/Bangkok has deposited almost 5 million doses in upper arms in 5,5 weeks, of which almost 1,5 million completely. Wow, it's not that bad.
Belgium has 11,5 million inhabitants, Thailand 69 million…….
Dear Dirk Jan. At a rate of 5,5 million injections, it takes 50 weeks to set 55 injections. To fully vaccinate (55 shots) 70 million (of the 2 million Thais plus a few million non-Thai residents) you need 100 weeks (rounded off 2 years). I don't think that's really acceptable. WimThai