Thailand: 10 groups of people prohibited from taking Sinovac vaccine; only 42 Covid-10 cases on Tuesday (March 2)

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) deputy governor Pol Lt-General Sophon Phisutthiwong. - The Nation Thailand/ANN

BANGKOK, March 2 (The Nation Thailand/ANN): Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) deputy governor Pol Lt-General Sophon Phisutthiwong (pic) has announced that Bangkok has received 66,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine allotted by the government and had started inoculating the target group since Monday.

“Medical professionals will be the first group to receive the vaccine at two doses per person, each dose has an interval of three weeks,” he said.

“The second group will be public health volunteers who have high risk of contacting infected patients during proactive testing missions. They will receive the vaccination from next week.”

Sophon added that the last target group to receive the first lot of Sinovac vaccine would be those who have chronic diseases and therefore would be more vulnerable if they contracted Covid-19.

They are: those with severe respiratory disease, heart and coronary diseases, stroke, chronic kidney disease, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, diabetes and obesity.

“However, there are 10 groups of people who are prohibited from receiving the Sinovac vaccine,” said Sophon.

They are those under 18 years old and over 60 years; women who are pregnant, are breastfeeding or planning to get pregnant during the vaccination period; those who have undergone transfusion of blood, plasma or other related products for the treatment of Covid-19 in the last 90 day; those who have uncontrollable symptoms such as chest pain, trouble breathing, palpitations and those who are suffering from brain or nervous diseases.

The others in this group are those who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 10 days; those who have acute disease and have been out of the hospital for less than 14 days; those who have immune deficiency or are taking immunosuppressant; those who have bleeding disorder or are under anticoagulation treatment and those who show symptoms of fever, shivering, have trouble breathing or have weakened muscles.

Meanwhile, Thailand on Tuesday (March 2) confirmed 42 new COVID-19 cases, mostly domestic, and one more fatality, according to a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Of Tuesday's new cases, 39 were domestic infections while three others were imported cases, the CCSA report said.

Those domestic cases included 24 detected in Samut Sakhon, among other provinces, the report said.

The new fatality, reported on Tuesday, was a 92-year-old Thai man, who had contracted the virus from an infected vendor at a marketplace in Pathum Thani. The deceased reportedly had heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Thailand has so far confirmed 26,073 cases, 23,284 of which were domestic cases while 2,789 others referred to imported cases.

So far, 25,420 patients have fully recovered and been released from hospitals while 569 others are currently hospitalized and 84 fatalities have been reported.

According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 114.99 million (up by 290,255), 90.71 million have recovered, 21.73 million are active cases (90,196 in severe condition) and 2.55 million have died (up by 6,609).

Thailand ranks 114th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 29.31 million, followed by India 11.12 million, Brazil 10.59 million, Russia 4.26 million and the United Kingdom 4.18. - The Nation Thailand/ANN