Amid a coronavirus third wave that shows no signs of abating, Pattaya residents say any vaccine is better than no vaccine.
Thailand has relied almost entirely to this point on a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine that, while approved for emergency use this week by the World Health Organization, has been found to be as little as 50 percent effective against the coronavirus. The country’s main backup, CoronaShield developed by AstraZeneca PLC and produced locally by Siam Bioscience Co., has seen several issues with side effects and efficiency less than 90 percent.
However, neither has been in enough supply to vaccinate more than a couple percent of the country’s population, leaving Thailand far behind countries such as the U.S. where half of all adults are now immunized with top-shelf vaccines from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Corp.
But Natcha Settawut, 29, said she decided to register to get vaccinated, even though she initially was scared by reports that people had bad side effects after receiving jabs of the CoronaVac vaccine from Sinovac Biotech. She said other reports she read on social media assured her it was safe enough to take.
All vaccines, she said, must be tested by the government, so she is confident they can be taken. Natcha said she wants the country to reopen to foreign tourists, so she has to get a jab.
Thanakorn Bretcher, 32, said he already had Covid-19 and is recovering. He said he has no idea how he got the virus, but knows firsthand how easy it is to contract.
Thanakorn said his symptoms were severe and he was put on a ventilator for a time. He feels there is no guarantee he won’t get Covid-19 again and so he wants to get vaccinated and doesn’t care what brand of vaccine it is.
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