Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has assured the Thai people that he and his government will explore all means to get Thailand through the current crisis, posed by the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also appealed to people to join his government in the fight against the disease, saying he has confidence in the capacity of people to overcome this crisis.
In a national broadcast tonight (Friday), he stressed that his government and the CCSA are well-prepared to cope with the new round of infections, including the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and anti-viral medications, such as Favipiravir for the treatment of infected patients, and management of hospital beds to accommodate the sick.
Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, the prime minister said that about 100 million doses of vaccines will be procured, to inoculate 50 million Thais this year.
Currently, about 2.1 million doses have been received and half of them have been administered to about 840,000 people, most of them frontline medical personnel. 65 million doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac have been procured, although most of them are yet to be delivered, and another 36 million doses of other vaccine brands are also on order, including up to 10 million doses of the Sputnik-V version from Russia.
On the treatment of those already sick, the prime minister said there are now 300,000 Favipiravir tablets distributed to various hospitals, with two million more to be imported.
Regarding financial measures, to ease the economic impacts, he said the government has set aside 380 billion baht for rehabilitation and recovery, as he urged the public to trust the government.
Thailand’s medical system facing its biggest test as virus surges back
With COVID-19 cases now rising by more than 1,000 per day, many Thais are wondering whether the country’s healthcare sector will crumble under the pressure. Despite the launch of field hospitals and “hospitels” (hotels turned into hospitals) concern is rising that the limited medical workforce may soon be overburdened.
