Hospitals nationwide have been instructed to prepare themselves to help administer Covid-19 vaccines to people following the government’s free-of-charge vaccination policy set to be first implemented this February
The Covid-19 administration sub-panel has held a tele-conference meeting with executives of public health offices nationwide to prepare hospitals in their responsible areas for Covid-19 vaccine administration following the government’s free of charge COvid-19 vaccination policy as the arrival of the first lot of the vaccines draws near.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also attended the meeting along with top executives of the Public Health Ministry, said public health offices and hospitals nationwide need to prepare themselves for the Covid-19 vaccine administration as it would be “the historic largest vaccination” in the country, following the government’s free-of-charge vaccination policy against the disease.
As part of the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination, those subject to the vaccination would receive the vaccines at hospitals and be followed up via the new Line account “Mor Prom” to assess any effects that may occur to their health, especially the first 30 minutes, Mr. Anutin said, adding their reactions would be checked on the first day, 7th, 30th, and 60th after receiving the vaccines.
Mr. Anutin said the first lot of the vaccines from AstraZeneca would be administered to people by February 14, and the Mor Prom Line account would be tested on this Wednesday before being launched for use on February to the first target group, which involves medical practitioners in high-risk areas.
For the general public, the Line account would be opened for registration for general people from April onwards, Mr. Anutin added.
According to the government’s Covid-19 vaccine administration plan, the first phase will run from February to April, during which the vaccines would still be limited. So, they will be administered to medical practitioners on the frontline, and people with risks in epidemic zones.
The second phase will run from May to December this year when more vaccines are delivered. They will be used for the same target groups in a wider scope, covering nationwide.
The last phase would be run from January next year onwards, during which the vaccines are administered to the general public to help boost immunity.
So, public health offices nationwide are requested to also survey needs and come up with monitoring systems in their responsible areas, said Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrajit, the ministry’s permanent secretary.
Thailand has planned to have vaccines against Covid-19 for its people for free. Asides 2 million doses earlier set to acquire from China’s Sinovac starting from February onwards, and the 26 million and 35 million doses from AstraZenaca expected to be distributed by June onwards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed there has been another lot of 200,000 doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca subject for the agency’s review. It has been produced in Italy, according to the FDA.
Dr. Surachoke Tangwiwat, FDA Deputy Secretary-General said on Saturday that the agency had received the documents from the company on December 22 last year, and finished reviewing them and just endorsed the vaccine for the emergency use last week.
So far, two companies, AstraZeneca and Sinovac, have proposed for the Covid-19 vaccine registration with the agency, he said.
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