Govt to procure updated jabs

The Public Health Ministry is planning to procure second-generation Covid-19 vaccines in about a month.

Deputy Director-General of the Division of Disease Control, Sophon Iamsirithaworn, said the National Vaccine Institute will hold a gathering in October to talk about the planned procurement.

“A panel will choose vaccines to get, as well as the amounts, next month, ” Dr Sophon said.

Despite the fact that Pfizer has come up with a new vaccine which usually specifically targets subvariant BA. 4 and BA. 5 from the Omicron strain, the particular NVI still has to carry out its own studies before deciding on a particular brand of second-generation Covid-19 vaccine, he noted.

Whenever asked if the following round of shot procurement will focus solely on second-generation vaccines, Dr Sophon said it will be inevitable as vaccine manufacturers will undoubtedly update goods in order to ensure their effectiveness.

Dr Sophon also said the DDC has purchased 3 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus shot to inoculate kids between the ages of six months and five years. The jabs, he said, will start to arrive next month.

According to the guide provided by Pfizer, the first two shots need to be given three days apart, while the third dose can be given after five a few months from the second, said Dr Sophon.

He approximated only around 40-50% of Thai children in that age group find yourself vaccinated against Covid-19, as the decision sits with the parents.

Separately, movie director of the National Vaccine Institutes, Nakhon Premsri, said that the second phase of clinical trials just for HXP-GPOVac, a locally-developed coronavirus vaccine, experienced started in August.

The other two vaccines, ChulaCov19 produced by Chulalongkorn University, as well as the plant-based Baiya shot by Baiya Phytopharm, are about to finish clinical trials.

Dr Nakhon expected the three vaccines to be available by the end of next year.

He stated Thai-developed vaccines is going to be just as effective and you will be used as enhancer shots.