Travelers who have been vaccinated with Sinovac should not be allowed to participate in Thailand’s ‘Phuket Sandbox’ program, a senior doctor told Thai Enquirer on Tuesday. Thai Enquirer

 

Travelers who have been vaccinated with Sinovac should not be allowed to participate in Thailand's 'Phuket Sandbox' program, a senior doctor told Thai Enquirer on Tuesday.

The Phuket Sandbox is due to open on July 1 and will be a major milestone in the government's quest to reopen the country by October.

As it stands, tourists that have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Sinovac, and Sinopharm vaccines will be allowed to enter Phuket freely.

However, a senior doctor at Siriraj Hospital says that the Sinovac vaccine should be taken off the approved list due to recent studies. (Read more here)

"The studies are pretty conclusive, this vaccine does nothing to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of the virus," the doctor told Thai Enquirer on condition of anonymity.

"The Delta variant will be the dominant strand in the world before long and we cannot let people in who would spread this disease further."

The doctor added that while the Sinovac vaccine likely helped to prevent severe symptoms, it was not enough to allow its use with the Phuket sandbox program.

"For our own people, it is okay because it helps the public health sector fight against severe symptoms and prevents deaths," he said. "But in terms of foreign travelers, they could not have symptoms at all but still carry the disease and spread it."

"That is why we cannot approve Sinovac for foreign travelers coming to Thailand."