Thailand: Coronavirus-positive health workers who had the Sinovac vaccine

Her Ministry of Health Thailand announced today that more than 600 healthcare workers who had been fully vaccinated with the Chinese drug against COVID-19, Sinovac, became infected with coronavirus as authorities considered boosting doses to boost immunity.

Of the 677,348 hospital workers who were vaccinated with both doses of Sinovac, 618 became infected, according to health ministry figures from April to July.

A nurse has died and another health worker is in critical condition.

A panel of experts has proposed a third dose for the immunization of at-risk medical staff, senior health official Sopon Yamshirithawon told a news conference today.

“This will be a different vaccine, either the AstraZeneca virus carrier or an mRNA vaccine, which Thailand will receive soon.”, he said and added that the committee’s recommendations will be considered tomorrow Monday.

The announcement coincides with a record 9,418 new cases in the Southeast Asian country today.

Authorities reported a daily record of 91 deaths yesterday.

A total of 336,371 confirmed cases and 2,711 deaths have been reported in Thailand since the pandemic began last year.

After February, most Thai medical workers and front-line workers were vaccinated with the Sinovac drug as the AstraZeneca viral drug was received in June.

Thailand expects a donation of 1.5 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines from the US later this month and has ordered 20 million doses to receive after October.

Neighboring Indonesia, which has also relied heavily on Sinovac, announced on Friday that it would provide the Moderna formulation as a booster dose to healthcare workers.