Fourth jab will be provided to people travelling abroad for trade, meetings
Thailand is now the only country that has started administering the fourth vaccine dose for those who need it, especially people who have to travel abroad to conduct trade or attend business meetings or seminars in order to drive the economy forward as quickly as possible, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Thursday.
Many countries still do not allow cross-formula vaccines that include Sinovac or Sinopharm, especially for people that need to travel. One case in point is travelling to Switzerland to attend World Health Organisation meetings.
In that European destination, for example, two Sinovac jabs are still not recognised even if the traveller has received AstraZeneca as the third dose. In this case a fourth jab is needed.
Anutin said it cannot be currently determined how long this fourth dose would be effective, it could be 12, 18 or even 24 months.
Thais will continue to be given booster doses until it is proven that they are safe, the minister said.
He also said that any province with a large population tends to have a lot of movement by people and therefore has a higher chance of attracting more infections than other provinces, but right now we should not be overly worried.