Thai Prime Minister says he will ensure the safety of all Covid-19 vaccines before being distributed to Thai citizens - Pattaya News. The Thai Prime Minister has stated this afternoon that Thailand will take their time to ensure vaccines are safe before rolling out to Thai citizens. He did not, however, clarify if this meant current rollout plans would be delayed or postponed which would potentially further set back return of tourism and other factors.



Thai Prime Minister says he will ensure the safety of all Covid-19 vaccines before being distributed to Thai citizens

Sunday, 17 January 2021, 20:06

PHOTO: Thairath

National –

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan O'Cha published an online statement this afternoon, January 17th, regarding the public reaction of Thai nationals to the news of possibly fatal side effects of Covid-19 vaccination injections in several people across the world, especially in Norway. The Pattaya News notes these reports have not gone through a peer review process and are not independently verified.

According to his statements, the fatal side effects will have to be thoroughly examined and have to be officially confirmed by medical experts in regards to whether it was due to the vaccine itself or due to other factors of the individuals involved, such as a certain health condition, physical condition, or age.

The Prime Minister said that the government decided not to rush any vaccines that have not been fully developed and tested, knowing that there could potentially be some risks for Thai citizens.

PHOTO: AstraZeneca

His social media status posted this afternoon read: "We refuse to be an experimental country. Thai people should not be 'guinea pigs' for any type of vaccination that is not safe. The Thai Government takes a stand for a policy that a Covid-19 vaccine must be confirmed safe before being injected into Thai people."

The safety of vaccines being distributed in Thailand must be examined and supervised by the National Vaccine Committee, the Prime Minister added.

Regarding the success in controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the past year, the Prime Minister stated that he attributed most of the success due to the implementation of various health measures and widespread cooperation among Thai people.

People are being reminded to wash their hands, perform social distancing, check-in via the "Thai Chana" application, and download the "Mor Chana" application for their own safety, the Prime Minister concluded.

It is unknown if the recent statements of the Prime Minister will cause any delays to current plans for vaccines in Thailand which are due to arrive next month in limited numbers.