Thai govt urged to speed up Covid-19 booster dose following WHO recommendation as cases still above 24,000 on Friday (March 11)

A hospital staff member dressed in personal protection equipment (PPE) administers an Antigen Test Kit (ATK) test to a teacher to check for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Pattani on Friday, March 11, 2022, ahead of university examinations the following day. - AFP

BANGKOK, March 11 (The Nation Thailand/ANN): A leading Thai pulmonologist on Friday called on the government to speed up administering booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine after the World Health Organisation reversed its previous stand on use of boosters.

Dr Manoon Leechawengwongs, a pulmonary disease expert at Vichaiyut Hospital, said on his Facebook page on Friday that the WHO had updated its vaccine guidance on Tuesday and has recommended the administering of booster shots.

The WHO had earlier spoken out against Covid-19 booster shots so that there would be enough vaccines available for third world countries.

Manoon said the WHO had done an about-turn and has urged all countries to speed up administering booster doses to reduce deaths and severe symptoms.

Manoon said the WHO update on Tuesday suggested that people in risk groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women, and people with comorbidities, should be given booster jabs to reduce severe symptoms and deaths three months after they have received Covid-19 vaccines.

Manoon said only 30 per cent of elderly Thais have received booster jabs and up to two million of them have not been given any dose.

He added that only 7 per cent of pregnant women had received a booster dose and up to 50 per cent of them had not been vaccinated at all.

He said the government should speed up Covid-19 inoculation of risk groups to cover at least 90 per cent of them and give booster doses to at least 60 per cent of them.

Manoon added that the booster doses should be mRNA vaccines that have higher efficacy and are safer. He said the country now has enough mRNA vaccines for Thais.

Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday (March 11) that there were 24,792 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 80 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.

Death toll increased by 63, while 22,062 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.

Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 913,214.

The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 3,136,649 – 2,890,076 of whom have recovered, 222,998 are still in hospitals and 23,575 have died. - The Nation Thailand/ANN