AFTER several days of high coronavirus count with this reaching 1,458 today (April 21), Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Thailand is moving to procure an additional 35 million doses of two to three more vaccine brands with this adding to approximately 65 million doses already processed, Siam Rath newspaper said.
In a Facebook post, Gen Prayut said the vaccination will be completed by December this year.
He added that a working group, participated by representatives from the Public Health Ministry’s Faculty of Medicine, the Food and Drug Administration and the head of the Private Hospital Association Dr. Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, concluded after consultation with all parties that Thailand would be able to obtain the additional 35 million doses of vaccine.
Of this new amount, the private sector, led by the Thai Chamber of Commerce. will be bringing in 10-15 million doses for employees with this helping reduce government expenditure, he added.
Meanwhile the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s (CCSA’s) assistant spokeswoman Dr. Apisamai Srirangsan said late this morning that only four of the new batch of 1,458 coronavirus cases were overseas arrivals who were either hospitalised or quarantined with the rest being domestic infections.
The domestic cases were divided into two groups, with 1,346 emerging in health services while 108 were found through proactive search in communities. The overall cumulative total is now 46,643 cases.
Two more patients died taking the toll to 110.
An additional 413 patients were cured, taking the overall count of those who have been discharged from hospital to 29,371 but there remains 17,162 patients under treatment.
The 109th patient who died is a 56-year-old woman who lived in Bangkok and sufferred from diabetes, high blood pressure and chornic kidney disease aside from being obese. She developed a fever April 10 and started coughing on April 13. She underwent a test on April 14 with the result confirming infection . On April 17 she started receiving treatment for symptoms of asthenia with an X-ray showing severe pneumonia. On April 19 she died of respiratory failure.
The 110th coronavirus fatality is a 32-year-old man who resided in Nonthaburi and suffered from allergy. He had a close contact with a patient on April 4 and on April 8 started having low fever and coughing up bloody sputum. On April 15 he got more fatigued and on April 16 started receiving treatment at a hospital with an X-ray showing severe pneumonia. His condition later worsened and he died on April 19.
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Top: A graffiti with an important message for coronavirus wracked world. Photo: William Murphy (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Home Page: A Covid-19 poster. Photo: Mike Finn (CC BY 2.0)
