Med groups issue appeal for more, better shots

Several medical groups are calling on the government to secure sufficient supplies of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines for frontline healthcare workers, to better protect them against infection in the face of escalating health threats posed by new variants of the coronavirus.

The Royal College of Physicians of Thailand earlier this week urged the government to pull out all the stops to import sufficient supplies of good quality Covid-19 vaccines and distribute them more efficiently, and with transparency.

The Infectious Disease Association of Thailand later joined the call, saying the government needs to speed up procuring mRNA Covid-19 vaccines while at the same time making a plan to secure next-generation vaccines being developed to cope with emerging variants of the new coronavirus.

The Rural Doctor Society, meanwhile, pointed out recently that it has come to a point where Thailand can no longer rely on injections of under 10 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines per day.

At least 15 million doses now need to be administered per day to catch up with the changing situation of the Covid-19 outbreak, while more brands of Covid19 vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna should be imported for use as soon as possible, said the group.

A group of people calling themselves frontline medical workers has also encouraged the government to urgently find and import mRNA Covid19 vaccines.

Manoon Leechawengwongs, head of Vichaiyut Hospital’s intensive care unit, said yesterday the government should negotiate with the supplier of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to speed up the shipment of 61 million more doses to Thailand promised in six months.

This next batch should instead be negotiated to be delivered within three months so that the government’s plan to get at least 50 million people injected with the first shot of the vaccine in 120 days is achievable, said the doctor.