Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has again apologised for holdups in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, saying there were a number of reasons for the delays. Earlier this week, 25 covid-19 vaccination sites in Bangkok postponed inoculations. Several hospitals also delayed coronavirus vaccinations over the weekend due to a limited supply.
According to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, “As the prime minister and director of CCSA, I am the top executive in this war against Covid. I must apologise for the problems that happened and I take all the responsibility.”
The prime minister had also apologised last week for holdups in the national vaccine rollout. He says doses have been delivered gradually in small lots. With a limited supply of covid-19 vaccines on hand, inoculation sites with high demand ran low and had to postpone injections. PM Prayut says the production process and quality checks for vaccines are time-consuming and can cause delays for deliveries, adding that other countries have similar issues.
Priority has also been given to areas with active Covid-19 outbreaks and to those who are at high risk of infection, which has led to postponements for covid vaccine appointments for some who had registered but are not in a priority group.
While the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced that there is a shortage of vaccines with no deliveries this week, officials say they are still on track to meet this month’s target of 6 million doses. The Thai government plans to inoculate 50 million people by the end of the year, reaching herd immunity. PM Prayut says the government plans to acquire more covid vaccines to cover 80% to 90% of the population in 2022.
6.8 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered since February 28. Since the start of Thailand’s mass immunisation campaign on June 7, 2.6 million doses have been administered. The CCSA has said there is a shortage of vaccine doses and no deliveries are expected this week, but they are still on track to reach the target of 6 million doses this month.