Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed he would receive the first lot of 200,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine at Suvarnabhumi airport by himself and intended to be the first person to be inoculated.
Gen Prayut who is also the defence minister said he would go to Suvarnabhumi airport to accept the first lot of the COVID-19 vaccine on Feb 24 to make sure that Thailand would have the vaccine and could then wait for subsequent lots.
The National Vaccine Institute would decide which groups of people should be inoculated with the initially imported doses and whether elderly people and those with communicable diseases should first receive the vaccine, the prime minister said.
Gen Prayut said he was ready to be the first person to take a jab but prior to that officials would check if he could be vaccinated.
Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University, wrote on Facebook that people should not be worried about any complication from Sinovac vaccine because it was an inactivated vaccine like vaccines for rabies, polio and hepatitis A.
The prime minister also said that in the afternoon the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration would consider the resumption of some business and activities to support the economy.
However, he said, people must take good care of themselves and seriously try to avoid risks of infection.
The CCSA meeting has relaxed disease control measures, allowing consumption of alcoholic drinks at restaurants and drinking parlours until 11pm. in all areas except Samut Sakhon. Music performances are allowed, but dancing is prohibited. (TNA)
