Government Pledges to Get through the New Wave of COVID-19 Crisis

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has stressed that the Government would try every way for Thailand to get through the new wave of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Prime Minister delivered a speech on the COVID-19 situation and the provision of vaccines against the disease, as well as the Government’s readiness to take care of COVID-19 patients. The speech was televised on the Television Pool of Thailand on 23 April 2021, when Thailand’s infected cases hit record high with 2,070 new cases.
He stated that the Government and the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration have been working closely together to assess the COVID-19 situation. If necessary, more stringent measures would be issued, but they would be made known in advance.
The Prime Minister said that he had instructed preparations for various public health services in response to COVID-19 and the acceleration of acquiring more vaccines. He said that the Government would secure additional vaccines, altogether 100 million doses, fto cover 50 million people by the end of 2021.
Thailand has already acquired 64 million doses – 61 million from AstraZeneca and 2.5 million from Sinovac. A total of 2.1 million doses from AstraZeneca and Sinovac have been delivered to Thailand and are being distributed across the country.
About 840,000 people in Thailand have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19. More than half of this number are medical personnel and frontline healthcare workers.
The Chinese government intends to donate 500,000 doses to Thailand. The Prime Minster said that the Government would buy another 36 million doses. It has been successful in securing 5-10 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Russia. American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had also agreed to sell 5-10 million doses to Thailand.
Moreover, he said, the private sector, led by the Board of Trade of Thailand, would help the Government secure 10 to 15 million doses for company employees. The Prime Minister will hold a meeting next week with the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries, and the Thai Bankers’ Association for discussion on COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution.

Source: https://thailand.prd.go.th/ewt_news.php?nid=11059