Details on the eight reported deaths of Covid-19 in Thailand today, all eight had underlying medical conditions. Pattaya News



Thailand –

The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) in Bangkok today (April 24^th) reported a total of eight deaths, all with underlying medical conditions, from the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Thailand announced 2,827 new domestic confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Kingdom this morning (April 24^th) with 12 imported cases for a total of 2,839 cases of the virus with eight new deaths reported.

Read more about our previous story in the link below.

https://thepattayanews.com/2021/04/24/recap-thailand-announces-2827-new-daily-domestic-cases-of-covid-19-12-imported-with-eight-deaths/

The top three cities with the most Covid – 19 cases reported today is Bangkok with 1,582, Chiang Mai with 151, and Chonburi with 119.

The province of Chonburi, Thailand, which includes Pattaya, announced this morning on their social media channels a total of 119 new, confirmed cases of Covid-19. On the bright side 146 people were released from medical care and fully recovered in the past day!

Read more about our story in the link below.

https://thepattayanews.com/2021/04/24/119-covid-19-confirmed-and-new-cases-in-the-chonburi-area-this-morning-says-public-health-department/

Details about the eight deaths in Thailand today are:

1. Thai man, 48, lived in Samut Prakan. He had diabetes. He visited a nightclub in Si Nakharin. On April 12^th started to have suspicious symptoms. On April 18^th he was confirmed with Covid -19. He was pronounced dead on April 22^nd.
2. Thai woman, 83, lived in Bangkok. She had diabetes, high blood pressure and Hyperlipidemia (blood has too many lipids). She was in close contact with a previous confirmed case. On April 18^th she started to have suspicious symptoms. Later that day she was confirmed with Covid -19. She was pronounced dead on April 22^nd.
3. Thai man, 89, lived in Bangkok. He was bedridden and had intestinal cancer. He was a close contact with a previous confirmed case. On April 22^nd he started to have suspicious symptoms. On April 23^rd he was confirmed with Covid -19 and was pronounced dead on the same day.
4. Thai man, 63, lived in Bangkok. He had high blood pressure and Gout. He was a close contact with a previous confirmed case. On April 11^th he started to have suspicious symptoms. On April 22^nd he was confirmed with Covid -19. On April 23^rd he was pronounced dead.
5. Thai man, 68, lived in Chachoengsao. He had high blood pressure, Hyperlipidemia and Cardiac Arrhythmia. He was a close contact with a previous confirmed case. On April 10^th he started to have suspicious symptoms. On April 11^th he was confirmed with Covid -19. On April 22^nd he was pronounced dead.
6. Thai woman, 82, lived in Samut Prakan. She had cervical cancer. She was a close contact with a previous confirmed case. On April 14^th she was confirmed with Covid -19. On April 20^th she was pronounced dead.
7. Thai man, 75 lived in Nakhon Sawan. He had high blood pressure, Hyperlipidemia and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia / prostate enlargement (increase in size of the prostate gland). He was a close contact with a previous confirmed case. On April 9^th he started to have suspicious symptoms. On April 11^th he was confirmed with Covid -19. On April 22^nd he was pronounced dead.
8. Thai man, 62, lived in Nonthaburi. He had chronic kidney failure. He had recently visited a Bangkok area nightclub. On April 18^th he reported feeling tired and ill. On April 21^st  he was confirmed with Covid -19. On April 23^rd he was pronounced dead.

-Provincial Governors will be given full power to institute harsher and tougher measures to control the Covid-19 situation, including curfews, travel restrictions, closure of businesses, and similar steps. (TPN Media notes the Nonthaburi governor issued a “request” today for people to stay home overnight between 9:00 P.M. and 4:00 A.M. Also, some provinces like Sa Kaeo has ordered the “lockdown” of individual remote villages with Covid-19 breakouts). Pattaya News

Thai Prime Minister gives full authority to provincial governors for curfews, tougher restrictions to control Covid-19

Saturday, 24 April 2021, 19:03

Thailand-

On a social media post on his official Facebook account late this afternoon, April 24th, 2021, the Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan O'Cha, released a statement that, among other things, stated he gave full approval to provincial governors to institute curfews and other "harsh medicine" measures to control the current Covid-19 breakout in the country.

First, here is a recap of the current situation with Covid-19 in the Kingdom of Thailand.

The Prime Minister discussed several items on his Facebook post, we will list the important ones below, we have bolded the most important ones:

-The Ministry of Public Health has been ordered to secure additional hospital beds in Bangkok as quickly as possible and ensure they provide proper care and comfort.

-1,423 people currently self-isolating and waiting for hospital beds will be found a bed as quickly as possible based on the urgency of their symptoms.

-The government will solve communication issues leading to phone calls to Covid-19 hotlines not being answered.

-The government will expand places to conduct Covid-19 screenings, including at field hospitals, to lessen congestion at major hospitals.

-The government is considering reducing the quarantine time for asymptomatic patients from fourteen days to ten days in a hospital, but the patient must strictly self-isolate for the final four days under a monitoring system. This will help free up space.

-More volunteers will be called up from around the country to assist at hospitals and field hospitals.

-Provincial Governors will be given full power to institute harsher and tougher measures to control the Covid-19 situation, including curfews, travel restrictions, closure of businesses, and similar steps. (TPN Media notes the Nonthaburi governor issued a "request" today for people to stay home overnight between 9:00 P.M. and 4:00 A.M. Also, some provinces like Sa Kaeo has ordered the "lockdown" of individual remote villages with Covid-19 breakouts)

The Prime Minister encouraged everyone to work together to resolve this crisis overall. 

A prominent virologist has warned that efforts to contain Covid-19 must be intensified before a "Thai variant" mutation of the virus emerges. Bangkok Post



 

'New variant' risk, warns top virologist

A prominent virologist has warned that efforts to contain Covid-19 must be intensified before a "Thai variant" mutation of the virus emerges.

Dr Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, posted on his Facebook page that concerned agencies should step up measures against Covid-19 due to the particularly contagious nature of the British variant currently spreading across the nation.

"Proactive measures to keep Covid-19 from spreading widely are needed before the virus has a chance to mutate," he said.

The virus usually took hold in big cities first before spreading to smaller towns, districts, sub-districts and villages.

Limiting people's movements was one of the solutions to stop the pandemic, the doctor said.

"More stringent measures, including proactive screening, are needed from now on to effectively contain the spread of the virus."

Everyone with positive results must be admitted to field hospitals or other designated places, while only those with serious symptoms should be admitted to hospitals for treatment, the doctor suggested, adding it is important to separate the infected as much as possible. His remarks come amid signs some are reluctant to seek help in hospitals for fear of gettting an infection.

Dr Yong also suggested the government make sure that the prices of Covid-19 tests were reasonable and similar across the country.

"Despite Thailand's high capacity to perform Covid-19 tests, some hospitals are limiting the number of daily tests carried out saying they have run out of the necessary chemicals," the doctor said.

Dr Yong cited India where the pandemic was out of control as an example, saying that when infection becomes that widespread, mutations are often a consequence.

"India had double mutations of a Covid-19 strain which infected people more easily. This variant, which could limit vaccine efficacy, posed a great threat to humans," he said.

Dr Vip Viprakasit from the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, said yesterday at the Public Health Ministry that vaccines with acceptable efficacy were crucial to the containment of the outbreak.

On concerns over the safety of the Sinovac vaccine after neurological side-effects were reported among seven vaccine recipients, the doctor insisted the side-effects were stress-related responses.

Dr Vip said he personally recommended vaccination since Covid-19 vaccine's efficacy outweighed the risk of side-effects.

Meanwhile, the Thai Chamber of Commerce has asked business operators who are interested in helping the government expedite the procurement of vaccines to register via www.thaichamber.org.

The move came after the chief executives of 40 companies on Tuesday rallied behind the government by launching a campaign to assist in the acquisition of vaccines. This is to help to pull the country out of its economic malaise as soon as possible.



The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced 75 new and confirmed cases of Covid-19 this morning, the lowest number in over two weeks. In other good news, 282 people were released from medical care and fully recovered. Pattaya News



Chonburi, Thailand-

The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced 75 new and confirmed cases of Covid-19 this morning, the lowest number in over two weeks. In other good news, 282 people were released from medical care and fully recovered.

The district level cases were as follows today:

Mueang Chonburi with 10, Si Racha 10, Banglamung (Pattaya) 45, Phanat Nikhom 2, Sattahip 2, Pan Thong 2, Bor Thong 1, 3 brought from other provinces to Chonburi for treatment.

The details on today's cases are:

1. 1.1 Insomnia 1 case
   1.2 Queen Club Pattaya 1 case
2. 2 confirmed patients who met people infected outside of the province.
3. 43 confirmed patients who are close contacts or family members of current cases in the province.
4. In the process of investigation 28 cases.

In the last day, a total of 122 close contacts were tested from contact tracing, and 156 people were tested in proactive testing when medical staff goes out into the community. All are pending results.

Chonburi officials are asking people to continue to stay home, socially distance, and follow other Covid-19 related measures to control the situation.

Photo: Banglamung law enforcement 

Thai PM under pressure to go “full lockdown” as infections surge. The Thaiger



 

Thai PM under pressure to go "full lockdown" as infections surge

By 

Tim Newton

Sunday, April 25, 2021

With many more businesses being told to pull down their shutters in Bangkok from midnight tonight, there are now calls to just go the next step and impose a full lockdown as the infection numbers keep mounting up. With the additional 31 types of business closed, on top of the current restrictions in Bangkok, the BMA has all but imposed the "L" word without actually saying it.

In Bangkok, alone, yesterday there were 1,582 Covid infections reported by the CCSA.

In the days before Songkran PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, asked if they should restrict Songkran travel because of the rising case numbers (in the 10s at that stage, not 1000s), he replied…

"Whatever will be, will be. The reason is, it's a matter that involves a huge number of people. The government will have to try to cope with that later."

Meanwhile, on April 16, Deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam dismissed the possibility of curfews in red zone provinces, claiming "it is not needed". Wissanu maintains that the colour-coded zones are "efficient at this stage".

Now the government's desire for Songkran to go ahead, and the consequences of those decisions, are coming back to bite them.

The PM's "later" is now.

Even last Friday night PM Prayut said on TV that the government had no plans to lock down the country despite the daily case reports over 2,000 for the past 3 days and nearly 3,000 yesterday.

Medical professionals, from a range of fields, are now calling on the Thai government to go into full lockdown to control the spread of the virus. As it is, with the country broken into red and orange zones, there are enforced closing times at many businesses and Bangkok has an additional regime of closure starting from midnight tonight. You can read about that HERE.

So, many argue, we already have a partial lockdown already and the government should just take the additional step, and enforce it.

PM Prayut responded to the calls on his Facebook page yesterday saying that he gave provincial governors the power to add local curfews if they deemed it necessary.

"Provincial governors have the authority to tighten disease control measures and close premises in addition to any closures ordered by the government. If the pandemic worsens, the 14 day quarantine period for asymptomatic patients treated at hospitals may be reduced to 10 days so they can be self-quarantined at home with a tracking system."

Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha. speaking to the Bangkok Post, said that the latest wave of infections "has reached a critical point as there are not enough medical personnel to take care of. In light of this, the ministry has asked the prime minister to tighten measures to curb the transmissions".

Thailand yesterday recorded a total of 2,839 new infections, another record 24 hour reporting period. At the peak of the first wave in April 2020 Thailand recorded 188 cases in one day. In the second wave, concentrated around migrant workers in Samut Sakhon in December and January, the largest daily tally was 959 people. 

#ThailandNews 8.30pm. The Nation





 #BreakingNews 8.30pm

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) resolved on Saturday that all people in Bangkok must wear facemask in public spaces. And violators of this order will be punished.

Moreover, BMA has ordered a temporary closure of places in Bangkok including cinemas, water parks, amusement parks, zoos, skating areas, game centre, snooker clubs, fitness clubs, museums, boxing stadiums, tattoo and piercing shops, racecourses, amulet markets, beauty clinics, Thai massage shops, and banquet halls.

The orders will be effective for 14 days from April 26.

24/4 provinsfördelat

 

“That’s entertainment,” takes on new meanings in Pattaya. With endless lists of banned leisure pursuits and threats of fines of 100,000 baht, plus a year in an uncomfortable Thai jail, things ain’t what they used to be in Fun City. Mostly, the government is having its way. Pattaya Mail

"That's entertainment," takes on new meanings in Pattaya

Pattaya MailApril 24, 2021

Jomtien beach area is still popular at night.

With endless lists of banned leisure pursuits and threats of fines of 100,000 baht, plus a year in an uncomfortable Thai jail, things ain't what they used to be in Fun City. Mostly, the government is having its way. All the obvious and now shuttered pleasure domes – Walking Street, Sexy Soi 6, L.K. Metro, etc. – look more like Sodom and Gomorrah after God's punishment than in their heyday as wealthy salt exporters.



The residual population of Pattaya is now reduced to expats who are past the first, or even second, bloom of youth and Thais who either can't or won't quit to return to "the village". This rather curious expression seems to refer to your birthplace, invariably hundreds of miles away, where people are impatiently waiting to welcome you. So the question arises how everyone still in Pattaya is spending their time in a period when, we are told, there is neither a curfew nor a lockdown. Even so, it certainly feels like there are both.

Advertising alcoholic beverages in Pattaya eateries doesn't mean you can buy any.

The main loophole is food because you can eat in a cafe until 9 pm and get a take-away until 11 pm. Social media has gone crazy on the farang-orientated meal options still available. The Breakfast Club Pattaya daily goes into photographic ecstasy about where to find the biggest fried breakfast, or discover that superb apple pie and custard to rival what your mother used to make. Stomachs are one of Pattaya's best selling points.

Of course, if you eat out there's a strict booze ban. Because Thailand is an informer-friendly society, the established restaurants know the dangers of deviance. The exceptions might be the smaller cafes in dark streets. We were offered a glass of wine in a tea cup in an eatery not from Tukcom where one customer was startlingly drinking from a Chang beer bottle. However, he explained he had brought it with him as it contained an anti-acid mixture for his stomach ulcer.

Barbers and hairdressers have been allowed to flourish.

Freedom still ranges on the beaches. Unlike previous anti-Covid measures, the current regulations permit use of the sands as well as swimming in the sea for exercise and recreation. Social mixing and picnicking are outlawed and the wearing of masks deemed compulsory. This message hasn't fully got through to the after-dark beach lovers. Sitting in small groups and chatting mask-less on Jomtien sea front reflects the truism that people feel bolder once the sun has gone down. Police patrols are fewer too.

You can't enjoy a massage, but it is ok you have your hair cut. Although "beauty parlors" were outlawed at the outset, barber shops and hairdressers were not pinpointed and seem to have been excused by the authorities. If you are lucky, you might even manage to have a shave, an ear cleaning, a hair dye or a corn removal. One business which performed all these services did nonetheless insist you entered your name and number in a manual log before sitting or lying down. Just in case.

Massage parlours were ordered shut by government order, although many had already folded because of a shortage of customers in preceding months. One unusual venue, just off Soi Buakow, carried a small notice that they were sorry Covid-19 had closed them down, but added a phone number in case you needed further information. The volunteer manning the phone was called Soapy.



Another no-go area is live entertainment. A bar, not far from the Jomtien Night Market, was lit up and hosted three farang customers and their ladies all sipping non-alcoholic drinks. However, the TV was tuned to a Korean boy band channel which helped to brighten up an otherwise funeral-like setting. When we asked the bar lady if there was any danger in playing the music, she replied if anyone complained, or if the police arrived, she switched the channel to CNN.

Lastly, on a brighter note, don't forget that cannabis was made legal for certain purposes just before the latest crackdown on entertainment. So you can legally use ganja for serious medical issues and to improve your health and humour in non-alcoholic drinks and food, provided the person selling you the stuff is registered with the correct government agency. But smoking pot is still powerfully illegal. If you get caught and deported, you'll be distressingly barred from returning to Fun City. For life. 

BREAKING: Thai health officials reporting a record 2,839 new cases and eight more deaths on Saturday. There are 22,327 people in care: 17,924 in hospitals & 4,403 in field hospitals. There are now 418 people in a serious condition & 113 on ventilators. Full details at the press briefing at 11:30am.



 

Health officials in Chonburi on Saturday reported 119 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 1,786. Thai Visa



Image: Reuters file photo

 

Health officials  in Chonburi on Saturday reported 119 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 1,786.

 

Of the new cases, most were found in Bang Lamung (58), Muang Chonburi (22), Sriracha (14) and Sattahip (9).

 

Cases were discovered after people visited  the following locations:

 

1.1 808 Club Pattaya 2 people
1.2 Bone Pattaya 1 person
1.3 Replay Bangsaen 1 people.
2. infected with COVID-19 from traveling to the province from Krabi
3. Contact with the patients from Nakhon Sawan
4. 1 medical personnel
5. 75 after contact with confirmed patients.
6. 33  cases under investigation 

 

The remainder of the cases were discovered by a combination of contact and proactive tracing. 

 

Health officials say they are still discovering cases linked to the cluster from entertainment venues in Bangkok.

 

Residents in Chonburi are urged to maintain social distancing, avoid gatherings and parties, wear masks and follow the policy of D-H-M-T-T.

 

D - Distancing- Avoid close contact with others.
M - Mask wearing - Always wear a mask.
H - Hand washing - Wash your hands frequently, use hand sanitizer service .
T - Testing - Body temperature check
T - Thaichana - Install and use the Thai Chana mobile app 

 

 

 

 

 

OBS !! Gårdagens (23/4) siffror. Cases of Covid-19 rise in Chonburi, 125 new and confirmed infections today. Pattaya News

Cases of Covid-19 rise in Chonburi, 125 new and confirmed infections today

Friday, 23 April 2021, 9:58

Chonburi, Thailand-

The province of Chonburi, Thailand, which includes Pattaya, announced this morning on their social media channels a total of 125 new, confirmed cases of Covid-19 which is a rise in Covid-19 cases overall in the province and the most since April 17th.

The districts in the province where cases were found are as follows: Mueang Chonburi with 22, Si Racha with 13, Banglamung (Pattaya area) with 64, Phanat Nikhom with 1, Sattahip with 6, Ban Bueng with 5, Pan Thong with 4, Bor Thong with 4, and 6 from other provinces and areas brought to Chonburi for treatment.

  The details on today's cases are as follows (We are aware some of this information is very vague, this is all that was released by the Public Health Department):

1. Six people were infected from the Flintstones Pub in Mueang Chonburi in the Don Hualor sub-district.
   (Since April 6th, 2021, a total of 162 cases from this venue)
2. 2.1 The Box 69 1 person
   2.2 808 Club Pattaya 3 people
   2.3 BONE 1 person
   2.4 Replay 1 case
   2.5 Other Pattaya entertainment venues 4 cases
3. 8 medical personnel
4. 64 confirmed patients that are close contacts or family members of prior cases
5. In the process of investigation 37 cases

Today, a total of 98 contacts were searched based on contact tracing from prior cases of Covid-19, and 259 proactive ones were searched which is when health workers go out into the local community, such as staff at entertainment venues, and test. All are currently pending results.

Chonburi Public Health Officials have cautioned people to stay home and work from home if possible, avoid social gatherings and parties, wear masks at all times when out of one's home, and follow other Covid-19 precautions.



Thai Prime Minister addresses the nation regarding the COVID-19 situation. (The following is a press release from the Thai National News Bureau. Their statements are their own.) Pattaya News



PHOTO: Thairath

BANGKOK –

(The following is a press release from the Thai National News Bureau. Their statements are their own.)

Thailand's Prime Minister has addressed the nation on the latest COVID-19 situation, following the recent surge in the number of new infections in the Kingdom.

General Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed his gratitude to the monarchy, for providing assistance to the government in their various operations to contain several COVID-19 outbreaks.

The premier said the latest outbreak, before the Songkran holiday, caused ripples that can still be felt, resulting in the increase in the number of daily new patients. He urged people to adhere to prevention measures strictly.

The Prime Minister noted that the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and the administration are keeping a close eye on the situation and will impose additional measures if necessary.

Additionally, General Prayut instructed officials to be ready to expedite the vaccination operation and to plan for rehabilitation and compensation in the future.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister said that half of the vaccines that had already been administered were given to medics and frontline workers while giving his assurance that the administration is looking for ways to obtain additional doses. The government aims to accumulate at least 100 million doses, to vaccinate 70% of the entire Thai population within this year.

Additionally, General Prayut said Thailand has enough Favipiravir tablets, used to treat COVID patients, with 300,000 in reserve and another 2 million already ordered.

The Premier said Thailand has more than 28,000 beds in state, field, and private hospitals, and facilities under the "hospitels" program. Although the number of available beds has decreased rapidly over the past couple of days, he said the government is working around the clock to find more beds.

General Prayut also talked about the administration's budget of 380 billion baht, to stimulate the ailing economy, which will fund various economic measures in the near future.



Officials must boost public trust in jabs. The outbreak may void the government's plan to reopen the country in the next two months and, as chances of the country making a turn-around are dim, the damage to the economy and the health sector are unfathomable. Bangkok Post

Officials must boost public trust in jabs

A man is injected with a Covid-19 vaccine at a city centre. A slow vaccination rate dampens the kingdom's inoculation drive as it is hit with a third wave.  Bangkok Post photo

A delay in the Covid-19 vaccine purchase plan has unforgivably crippled Thailand's efforts in handling the third wave of coronavirus outbreak that hit the country early this month.

It remains unclear if the Prayut Chan-o-cha government, particularly the Public Health Ministry, will be able to beat the virus as it did in the two previous outbreaks or when it can get the current outbreak under control. Currently, only 1.3% of the population have been vaccinated, too few to create herd immunity.

The country has seen a surge in infections, surpassing 1,000 for about a week, while virus transmission has covered every province.

The outbreak may void the government's plan to reopen the country in the next two months and, as chances of the country making a turn-around are dim, the damage to the economy and the health sector are unfathomable.

It's a tough situation indeed.

The new outbreak is attributed to the fact that we are coping with the British variant that is known to spread up to 1.7 times quicker than the original coronavirus strain.

The new outbreak is associated with the Thong Lor cluster which involved several entertainment venues whose operators had breached anti-virus measures.

As the government pledges to accelerate the vaccine process, with 26 million Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines being delivered in one or two months, there emerges a great challenge: how to inoculate the population in time as the vaccination drive goes on at a snail's pace.

Thailand started inoculating people, with a focus on priority groups, on Feb 28. Currently, we have two vaccine brands, China's Sinovac and AZ, with a total of 2,117,300 doses.

Almost two months have passed and just 864,840 people have received jabs (746,617 people received their first shot and 118,223 are fully vaccinated).

It means only 13,000 vaccine doses are being administered each day. At this rate, it will take several years before we can achieve herd immunity.

We have to blame miscalculation on the part of the government for the delay. Or shall we say complacency?

We have to admit that we had an impressive performance in battling the virus, with the infection number curbed quickly in the the first few months.

Efficient disease control measures, in principle, should allow a steady delivery of vaccines.

About 23 million AZ doses are to be imported in June, while six million locally-made vaccines will become available in the same month, followed by 10 million doses per month until the end of the year.

The country had been expected to achieve herd immunity by then but the unexpected Thong Lor cluster has ruined all that.

In fact, we had plenty of time to handle the crisis and should have done better by keeping our guards up.

More importantly, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has underestimated the new virus from the beginning.

Even now, he still refuses to admit that the vaccination plan is too slow and instead says everything is proceeding "as planned".

He bragged about the ministry's strong mechanism in distributing the vaccines. Recently, he highlighted nearly 2,000 state hospitals and nearly 10,000 smaller, tambon-level hospitals across the country under the ministry.

He wanted to highlight that vaccines can reach every tambon but it remains to be seen if they can handle distributing 65 million doses scheduled to be delivered in June.

The ongoing vaccination rate -- 13,000 doses a day -- means there can be issues when all the vaccines arrive.

The number of vaccines is not helpful if the vaccination speed cannot be accelerated. But we cannot be daunted.

In fact, the private sector has expressed enthusiasm to give a hand in vaccine distribution. Some even advised that the government to diversify its vaccine sources instead of relying on AZ but the government staunchly turned down the advice.

There are concerns that the government does not want to share the achievement of inoculating the country.

It's welcome news that the private sector wants to help to speed up the vaccination in every step. But there can be problems ahead, particularly regarding trust, as a large number of people are concerned about vaccine safety and may refuse to get vaccinated.

It is the duty of the government to boost public trust in vaccines -- that it is a major tool to keep us safe, the best available option and side effects are only minimal.

However, the government has to admit that its own flaws in law enforcement have dented public trust. Until today, the government has not probed into allegations that a cabinet minister had a part to play in the Thong Lor cluster. Without a probe, the government has effectively protected those in the wrong.

Operators of those entertainment venues had breached anti-virus measures, i.e. lack of social distancing. Already operating without a proper licence, those venues were found to have also violated beyond permitted hours. This happened under the noses of the police.

Now the police are seemingly hesitant in taking action against those operators, saying that it's the job of City Hall to regulate those places.

Should the government continue to protect those who had a hand in the third wave instead of correcting the problem, we can hardly expect to cope with outbreaks that may occur again and again.

Chairith Yonpiam is assistant news editor, Bangkok Post.