The mixed vaccination with the first dose of Sinovac inactivated vaccine followed by the second dose of AstraZeneca viral vector vaccine is the basic standard of vaccination for Thai people in Thailand, said Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kiattibhoom Vongrachit as he defended the "mix and match" formula, its safety and efficacy in the prevention of severe cases or deaths among those vaccinated.
Dr. Kiattibhoom also pleaded with opposition MPs to refrain from speaking negatively about the quality of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine in a way which may fuel public confusion or mistrust of the vaccine.
He, nevertheless, said that the Ministry of Public Health would procure more effective vaccines for the Thai people, which can cope with new variants of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Medical Sciences Department Director-General Dr. Supakit Sirilak said that the mixed inoculation of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines is as effective as two doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, but the first vaccination formula can be administered faster and will cover twice as many people inoculated due to the availability of Sinovac vaccine, as opposed to other makes.
Dr. Supakit disclosed that, so far, 1.5 million people had already been administered with the mixed Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines and they are safe, adding that, in the next step, about 3 million people who were fully inoculated with two doses of Sinovac vaccine will be given the third booster shot with AstraZeneca vaccine.
But he noted that the research study on the "mix and match" vaccination, conducted by the Medical Sciences Department and the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj hospital is not published yet under the present circumstances and it will take some time.
Disease Control Department Dr Opart Karnkawinpong also defended the "mix and match" vaccination formula, saying it has been approved by several Thai and foreign medical organizations as well as the National Communicable Disease Committee.
As the coronavirus is constantly mutating while new vaccines are being developed to cop with the emergence of new variants, he said that the existing vaccines have become less effective against the new variants but they still can protect those inoculated from becoming seriously sick or dead from the disease.
On the third day of the censure debate In the Parliament this morning (Thursday), Pheu Thai MP Jiraporn Sindhuprai questioned why Thailand paid about 100 baht per dose more than Indonesia, India and the Philippines did in procuring Sinovac vaccine from China.
She also expressed doubt about why the Public Health Ministry had sought cabinet's approval for 5.5 billion baht to procure Sinovac vaccine from China in several lots, but the actual prices paid were about 1.6 billion baht lower than the fund allocated as she indicated that there might be kickbacks in the procurement deal.
She said that the Pheu Thai Party would, later on, ask the National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the Sinovac vaccine deal to determine whether there are kickbacks in the deal.
Sinovac currently makes up the majority of vaccines Thailand has received, at about 25.5 million doses so far. Up to 33.42 million vaccine doses have been administered so far, with 8.68 million people being fully vaccinated with two doses, or about 12.5% of the entire population, and over 595,000 others receiving their third booster shots.
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