PM: Many reasons for Covid vaccination delay

PM: Many reasons for Covid vaccination delay

Covid-19 vaccination continues at the Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok on Tuesday. The Public Health Ministry plans inoculation there for the people whose vaccination appointments were cancelled by hospitals. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)
Covid-19 vaccination continues at the Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok on Tuesday. The Public Health Ministry plans inoculation there for the people whose vaccination appointments were cancelled by hospitals. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

There were many reasons for delays in Covid-19 vaccinations, according to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who apologised for it.

Gen Prayut said on Tuesday that the government was receiving small lots of ordered vaccines, not huge lots at a time, and vaccinations stopped at the inoculation stations that had high injection capabilities and used all their vaccine stocks.

Vaccine deliveries took time because they had to wait for time-consuming production and quality checks. Many countries faced the same problem, he said.

Besides, vaccinations were accelerated for at-risk people in outbreak areas including those in Bangkok to control Covid-19 and maintain the operations of factories. That affected some previous vaccine registrants, the prime minister said.

In addition, vaccinations involved many organisations and misunderstanding could happen in their inoculation coordination, he said.

Vaccination registrants whose appointments were postponed did not have to register again and their places in queues would be kept, Gen Prayut said.

"As the prime minister and director of CCSA [Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration], I am the top executive in this war against Covid. I must apologise for the problems that happened and I take all the responsibility," he said.

The government ordered 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for its plan to inoculate 50 million people, or 70% of the population, within this year. It was acquiring more to expand the vaccinations to cover 80-90% of the population next year, Gen Prayut said.

Meanwhile, Dr Sophon Mekthon, vice minister of public health, said at the Public Health Ministry in Nonthaburi that the people whose vaccination appointments had been put off by their hospitals could instead register for inoculation at the Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok via the phone number 02-7922333.

He said that the number of people whose vaccination was postponed should not be high.

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