Medical Council urges govt to boost jab supply

The Thai Medical Council is calling on the government and private sector to procure sufficient supplies of Covid19 vaccines, including the newer mRNA type, to ensure that all Thais can be vaccinated promptly and free of charge.

In a statement signed by council chairwoman Prof Somsri Phaosawat, the council also insisted that frontline medical workers should receive “proper” mRNA vaccines and noted that vaccinations should be free for all as stipulated in Section 47 of the charter. She also recommended that people accept whichever official vaccine they are first offered due to evidence that even a single shot can reduce the severity of symptoms.

Meanwhile, Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, Chulalongkorn University’s Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases chief, wrote on Facebook that while the mRNA vaccines are not yet available in Thailand, giving AstraZeneca vaccine as a booster shot to frontline medical workers would be a sensible precautionary step to protect them against the Delta variant.

He said initial findings of a study into mixing Sinovac and AstraZeneca doses had indicated that two doses of Sinovac and a booster shot of AstraZeneca provided a significant immunoreceptor response to the variant.

“Most frontline medical workers received the Sinovac vaccine but that may not be enough to protect against the Delta variant. Giving them AstraZeneca as a booster shot is likely to confer added protection as mRNA vaccines are not yet available,” he said.