The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that Thailand has been able to protect its population and public health service from the Covid-19 threat and publicly linked the ฿6 billion vaccine programme, approved by the cabinet in recent weeks, to reopening the kingdom’s borders and recharging its lucrative foreign tourism industry. He acknowledged that Thailand has paid a high price economically.
Thai PM Prayuth Chan ocha heralded the kingdom’s exit strategy from the Covid-19 virus emergency on Thursday as he gave details of a contract being entered into between the National Vaccine Institute and the UK Swedish firm AstraZeneca which will allow for not only Thailand’s vaccination programme to begin, by the middle of the year, but could see the kingdom exporting the vaccine to other countries, particularly in the ASEAN bloc.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha has confirmed that the kingdom will be able to begin the process of reopening its borders sometime after the middle of next year when the country’s vaccine programme has gotten underway.
He linked this to the government’s efforts to relaunch Thailand’s economy back on the path to economic growth.
Prayut points to the destructive path of Covid-19 worldwide with a second wave impacting developed countries including Europe and the United States
General Prayut was speaking in a video presentation released on Thursday to publicise the signing of an advance contract with the UK/Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on Friday in which the government will preorder and enter into a contract for the purchase of 26 million doses of the vaccine.
In recent weeks, the cabinet approved a budget of ฿6 billion for the national vaccination programme, which is the largest such undertaking in Thailand by far and an unprecedented logistics and national campaign. It is projected to get underway in the middle of 2021.
Prayut drew attention to the destructive path of the virus seen outside Thailand in what he described as the worst-case scenario which has enveloped the world and global economy in 2020.
In his comments, the Thai PM pointed to the reality of Covid-19 which is still raging both in the European Union and the United States, at this time, with high levels of infections. However, the death rate from the disease, during the second wave, is lower due to better treatment options and a lower age profile among patients.
The Thai Prime Minister, nonetheless, on Thursday, warned that western countries could see a third wave of the disease if action is not taken.
This has been confirmed already by health experts who suggest that up to six waves of the disease are possible if intervention does not come about to artificially introduce herd immunity through mass vaccination programmes.
Continued threat and damage to the Thai economy
In his statement, General Prayut confirmed that this was the goal of his government and the country’s end game as far as Covid 19 is concerned. He acknowledged the continuing threat of the disease to Thailand’s economy.
‘We are preparing for the next phase in managing the Covid crisis so that it does not do even greater damage to our country’s economy and people’s livelihoods,’ he said. ‘The long-term solution to overcoming the crisis of the Covid pandemic is the availability of a vaccine and its adequate distribution to people.’
The PM pointed out that the government’s ability to control the virus, which has come at such a steep economic cost, has helped to save lives in Thailand and ensured that the country’s public health system was not overwhelmed while necessary medical treatment for other illnesses had not been impaired.
US ASEAN business chief urges a reopening of Thailand to foreign tourism at meeting with the PM
In August, the Prime Minister established the Centre of Economic Situation Administration and since then, there has been some encouraging and welcome news showing that, despite what is effectively a continued closure of the kingdom to foreign tourism despite a trickle of tourists on highly restrictive entry conditions, the Thai economy has managed to shake off some of the worst-case predictions seen in the middle of the year, of a GDP contraction in double digits such as is still likely in the UK and Europe.
On Thursday, the Chairman of the US ASEAN Business Council in Thailand, Alexander Feldman, urged the PM and the government to move as swiftly as possible to prioritise the reopening of Thailand’s valuable foreign tourism sector. The government leader was attending a meeting with the group hosted at the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok.
Economy may only contract at between 6% and 7% this year after recovery in exports in the third quarter
Under the government’s new Economic Czar, Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and new Minister of Finance, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, the economy is now projected to only contract by between 6% and 7% this year according to some banks and financial analysts. This improvement has been achieved by stronger than expected exports worldwide in particular to the United States.
The more optimistic picture should be treated with some caution due to the second wave of Covid-19 worldwide and the deeper impact on the economic picture caused by the loss of foreign tourism, in the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, because of the traditional tourism High Season which last year put in a strong performance.
The figures compare well with predictions for the UK and European economies which are expected to report abysmal numbers and show sharp economic contractions for 2020 after being hit hard by a second wave of the virus despite virulent recoveries in the third quarter.
That said, Thailand may also suffer in the last quarter of 2020 if the US economy is impacted by the second wave there and from the shutdowns in the UK, European Union and Australia.
Thai firm to manufacture the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca here
The Prime Minister, General Prayut, announced that the vaccine being distributed in Thailand will include doses manufactured in the kingdom by Thai firm, Siam BioScience Group.
He said the planned vaccination programme was the fruit of a crucial decision made by the government this year to partner with Oxford University in the development of the vaccine which has just been shown to be between 70% and 90 % effective at protecting people from being infected by the virus.
The efficacy rates are well above the required 50% rate demanded by the World Health Organisation to halt the spread of the disease through herd immunity.
Trial results just released show that the vaccine can be up to 90% effective with two doses
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in conjunction with Oxford University, has been shown in clinical trials to be 70% effective in one-half dose and 90% effective with two doses in a test sample of 3,000 people. A larger sample, reported with two full doses, showed an efficacy rate of 62%.
‘That is why, a few months ago, I made the decision for Thailand to seek to partner in vaccine production with an eminent vaccine research group as a way of securing a vaccine early,’ General Prayut said on Thursday. ‘We expect this vaccine to be properly certified, approved for use and in production by the middle of next year. The sooner we can advance this timetable, the sooner we can open our doors to large numbers of visitors and begin the task of rebuilding our economy.’
Vaccine most suited to Thailand because it can be stored easily at moderate temperatures
General Prayut pointed out that the AstraZeneca vaccine was particularly suited to Thailand as it can be stored at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees whereas the other US vaccines require extraordinary low temperatures to conserve the potency of the vaccine such as minus 20 to minus 70 degrees.
This would pose a problem for warm and sunny countries such as Thailand.
Dr Nakhon Premsri of the National Vaccine Institute, with whom the contract with AstraZeneca will be signed, also said on Tuesday that the vaccination programme in Thailand may be ready to commence by the middle of 2021.
Doses to be produced in Pathum Thani near Bangkok with 2 million doses per month being made available
The vaccine is expected to be manufactured at a production facility operated by Siam BioScience in Pathum Thani near Bangkok and the government is expecting that it will receive 2 million doses a month while the plant has a capacity for 15 million. Much of it is expected to be exported by Thailand to other countries particularly in ASEAN.
The planned vaccination for the Thai public is understood to be targeting 13 million adults with two doses per person required or twenty-six million doses.
Potential snag which may still make the kingdom reliant in imported vaccine doses says expert
It is understood that Thailand may also be importing vaccines from other sources.
In recent days, Dr Kiat Ruxrungtham of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University who is in charge of Covidf-19 research, expressed scepticism about the ability of the Thai firm to deliver due to a shortage of precursory materials required to manufacture it which are being bought up worldwide.
Dr Kiat envisaged that Thailand would need to import some doses that have been pre-purchased by both Japan and the United States in large quantities from Pfizer and Moderna although he accepted the challenge this would pose based on the cold storage facilities required for these products, an issue also identified by the prime minister.
The Director of the Department of Disease Control, Dr Opas Kankawinphong, has revealed that the government has agreed ฿3.7 billion to transport and distribute the vaccine in Thailand as well as a public health campaign to inform the population.
‘Giving 26 million doses of vaccine to over 13 million people is unprecedented in Thailand. So we need to make everything work, especially when it comes to creating awareness among the public,’ he said.
A decision by the government is expected before the end of this year, as to which groups will be prioritised for early dosing once the programme begins. It is expected that this group will include the elderly and those with underlying conditions who would be most in danger from Covid-19 when the country reopens for business and tourism.
When that might be, exactly, is still not clear as the worldwide scramble for vaccines and immunisation looks set to begin.
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Further reading:
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Thai security chief suggests a full reopening of the kingdom to international flights from July 1st
Australian man’s heartbreak cut off from his Thai wife – begs to be included on repatriation flights
