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A woman receives the CoronaVac coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19) from Sinovac after hundreds of residents of the district tested positive for coronavirus disease in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 7, 2021. REUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha / File Photo
BANGKOK, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Thailand’s health ministry said on Thursday that its Sinovac China COVID-19 (SVA.O) vaccine regimen followed by British-developed AstraZeneca (AZN.L) was safe and secure. successfully increased immunity among its first 1.5 million recipients.
Thailand, in July, became the first country in the world to mix a Chinese vaccine and a vaccine developed by the West as cases and deaths increased in the country and the government struggled with the supply of vaccines.
“The cross-formula has been injected into more than 1.5 million people and is safe. Please do not say things that could create concern,” senior health official Supakit Sirilak told a news conference.
He said Thailand, which makes the AstraZeneca vaccine, would no longer give two doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac.
Only 13% of the population of more than 66 million people in Thailand has been completely vaccinated.
Most of its 1.2 million infections and 12,103 coronavirus deaths occurred after April of this year, caused by the highly transmissible variants Alpha and Delta.
The health ministry said the Sinovac-AstraZeneca combination increased immunity to the same levels as two shots of AstraZeneca and meant vaccinations could be completed more quickly due to the shorter dose difference.
The formula will be used for most vaccines in Thailand, said Permanent Secretary of Public Health Kiatiphum Wongrajit.
Boost doses will be given to 3 million people who received two shots of Sinovac with a different type of vaccine, probably from this month, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has reported.
The vaccine against the inactivated Sinovac virus has caused concern in some countries for its resistance to the Delta variant.
Earlier this week, during a censorship debate over the coronavirus crisis, Anutin told lawmakers not to criticize Sinovac, to protect the Thai public, and not to damage ties with China.
“The fact that many members (of the house) stick to the Sinovac vaccine can create panic, confusion and concern for the public,” he said.
Reports of Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng, Additional Reports of Panu Wongcha-um; Edited by Martin Petty
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