The Ministry of Public Health has now increased the availability of mRNA jabs at more vaccination centers, providing easier access to this specific vaccine type for anyone who prefers it.
The Ministry of Public Health is now addressing issues that have slowed down the country’s vaccination uptake, one of which is a preference for the mRNA vaccine.
Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul said Thai people who are still waiting for their vaccine appointment with private hospitals can instead get vaccinated with government-provided mRNA jabs.
With most of the alternative vaccine customers based in Bangkok, the Department of Medical Services and the Department of Disease Control have designated the Central Vaccination Center at Bang Sue Grand Station, Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, and Srithanya Hospital as primary vaccine centers for mRNA jabs.
Vaccine recipients at these centers can now have mRNA vaccine as their first and second doses in their primary vaccination schedule.
For other provinces, the Ministry of Public Health has ordered provincial public health offices to survey the number of people waiting for their alternative vaccine appointments and to instead offer them government-provided mRNA jabs.
The Thai government has previously offered exclusively the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the only mRNA vaccine in the country’s inoculation campaign, with this vaccine type largely limited only to younger people, or as the second dose in the mixed vaccine regimen.
Previously, people who prefer the mRNA vaccine only had an option to pre-order Moderna jabs out of their pocket with private hospitals in the Alternative Vaccine arrangement, which has seen shipment delays affecting the rollout.
The Minister of Public Health stressed that every COVID-19 vaccine procured by the Ministry of Public Health is safe and effective in preventing severe illnesses and deaths.
 |
 |
 |
