Sinovac rollout to reach all provinces

The government plans to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine this month across the country.

Permanent secretary for Public Health Kiattiphum Wongrajit said 800,000 Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses would be allocated to all provinces nationwide starting today. Some 350,000 doses will be given to six at-risk provinces, 240,000 doses to eight tourist provinces and 50,000 doses to eight border provinces.

He said 160,000 doses will be allocated to the remaining provinces. Those with a population of less than one million will receive 800 doses, while large provinces with a population of 1-1.5 million will get 1,000 doses and larger provinces will get 1,200 doses, said Dr Kiattiphum. Public health and frontline workers will receive the vaccine first. 1,000 doses will be given to each province to inoculate village health volunteers, he said.

In a related story, assistant spokeswoman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) Apisamai Srirangson said three immigration officers and employees who worked at immigration detention centres tested positive for Covid-19. The detention centres earlier reported a cluster of 395 cases.

The CCSA reported 24 new cases in three provinces on Wednesday. Eleven of the cases were found in Samut Sakhon, 10 in Bangkok and three in Samut Prakan.

One of the cases in Samut Prakan is a 28-year-old employee who worked in the kitchen of a quarantine facility.

The CCSA assistant spokeswoman said she did not wear gloves nor wash her hands while working. There were five people who were in close contact with her.

One of them, her co-worker, later tested positive. This person spread the virus to her infant and nanny.

On Wednesday in Lamphun, a group of vendors at Nong Dok Klang Market protested against the provincial communicable disease committee's order to limit the market's entrances in light of clusters at markets in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday the parent company of AstraZeneca commended Thailand for its ability to manufacture vaccines that meet their requirements.