Reuters file photo for reference only
A leading Thai doctor went on Facebook with bad news for those who bigged up the Pfizer vaccine in recent months over other options.
Many people on online forums this year said they would not have Chinese vaccines like Sinovac or Sinopharm as Pfizer or Moderna were much better. They started getting the former and were willing to wait for the latter and even pay for it.
(Both are now free in Thailand and widely available especially Pfizer).
Based on little more than selected studies and the source country where the vax is produced this has been panned by some as "Vaccine Snobbery".
Now along has come the fast spreading and mutant laden new variant Omicron. This is changing perceptions.
Dr Chalernchai Banyaleephan - deputy chair of the senate health committee - claimed that studies coming out of South Africa and other studies by Discovery Health showed that 2 doses of Pfizer offered only 33% protection against being infected with Covid-19.
And those two doses only gave 70% protection against developing severe illness.
The Thai media said that further studies were being awaited as regards the likelihood of Sinovac vaccine also being less effective against Omicron.