Hua Hin Forum

Inoculation effort fails to impress
As various countries start to see positive results from mass vaccination programmes, Thais are getting angry following a surge in infections last week, prompting concerns about the possibility of stringent government measures to control the latest outbreak.

Businesses believe several factors are to blame for the latest outbreak, but by far the greatest one is slow-moving inoculation efforts by the authorities.

As of April 7, Thailand had 323,989 doses of vaccine administered to its population, the equivalent of half a dose for every 100 people, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford. Only 0.4% of the population had been vaccinated at this point in time.

Israel was in pole position in terms of inoculation efforts with 114 doses per 100 people, with 59% of its population inoculated against Covid-19.

In Asean, Thailand was in eighth position. Singapore led with 27 doses per 100 people, followed by Indonesia (5), Malaysia (2.6), Cambodia (1.8 ), the Philippines (0.8 ), Myanmar (0.7 ), and Laos (0.6).

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... to-impress

Says it all really - a country on the verge of civil war is still ahead of Thailand for vaccinations ...

I contacted Bangkok Hospital and they said they had ordered Sinovac (yuck) and Astra Zeneca vaccines. Both are among the lowest in effectiveness of the lot.

I think its all we're likely to see in Thailand for a while. Did they say how to reserve?

brianks wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:37 am I contacted Bangkok Hospital and they said they had ordered Sinovac (yuck) and Astra Zeneca vaccines. Both are among the lowest in effectiveness of the lot.

I thought the Astra Zeneca vaccine came out fairly well overall - maybe not quite on a par with Pfizer but certainly better than Sinovac? Given a choice, I’d certainly opt for AZ, regardless of the very low (possible) links to blood clots.

This was back in February and certainly Sinovac doesn't fair well:

Chile has largely based its vaccination programme on Sinovac and the results are not promising, though it could be down to unlocking too soon.

The UK's programme has mostly used Pfizer and AZ and England is now starting to unlock (still too soon in some opinions). Deaths and hospital admissions are way down. We shall soon see how effective the, as yet unfinished, vaccination programme is.

brianks wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:37 am I contacted Bangkok Hospital and they said they had ordered Sinovac (yuck) and Astra Zeneca vaccines. Both are among the lowest in effectiveness of the lot.

You can't really directly compare efficacy rates from different vaccines that were tested at different time periods, in different countries, with differently-designed trials incorporating different clinical end-points.

Probably the most important point to note about the vaccines (at least from an individual standpoint) is that they all provide virtually 100% efficacy against serious illness, hospitalisation or death.

Also, real world data from over a million people vaccinated in the UK (as opposed to only some thousands in the clinical trials) actually showed the AstraZeneca vaccine to be more effective than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, at least in that population, in that time period.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-02-22-co ... world-data

brianks wrote:I contacted Bangkok Hospital and they said they had ordered Sinovac (yuck) and Astra Zeneca vaccines. Both are among the lowest in effectiveness of the lot.

Surely they will be in the queue behind the government for at least AZ if not Sinovac. Or will there be some rearranging of deliveries depending on brown envelope contents? AZ has to deliver 60 million doses to Thai gov first, and possibly other customers in the region.

On the subject of vaccines maybe someone with the government's ear (or at least awareness) started asking searching questions about plans for vaccination of foreigners, especially those with Thai families. Richard Barrow springs to mind as one such person.

Mass AZ vaccinations are supposed to start in June with second doses starting September. This may be long before private hospitals have enough for the resident foreign population. So spouses of foreigners may be protected but still capable of being infected and passing the disease to their spouses. A situation that is not ideal, and could endure for many months.

I'm guessing money will talk. If they can sell it at 10x the cost they sell it to the Govt, I'm sure they'll divert a few doses. BH will still make their profit, be sure of that.

Some foodstuffs are price controlled so maybe vaccines should be as well.

In one of those articles earlier today there was reference to 2,000 Baht per dose from the private hospitals regardless of what vaccine they offer. I'll quote it if I see it again.

Are you sure that wasn't medication to treat Covid?

Big Boy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:48 pm Are you sure that wasn't medication to treat Covid?

No, It was for the vaccine. I've been looking for it again. I read so many damn articles in a day's time I can't always remember where I've seen it. It didn't strike me as something to post separately as I thought it was part of one of the articles already posted. I'll continue the quest later on.....

I can't find the story I'm thinking of now, but I thought it was vaccines when I read it as well.