BANGKOK – Thailand will mix and match China’s Sinovac vaccine with the AstraZeneca jab to boost protection against Covid-19.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said AstraZeneca will be used as the second dose, which will be administered three to four weeks after the first.
“A combination of the two vaccines will provide better defence against the Delta variant,” he was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post.
He said the National Communicable Disease Committee has given the go-ahead for health workers who have received both Sinovac doses to get a booster shot – either AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine like Pfizer-BioNTech.
The decision comes after hundreds of medical staff who have received both doses got infected with the coronavirus.
The majority of frontliners in the kingdom have been given Sinovac since February 28.
Thailand recorded 8,656 Covid-19 cases and 80 fatalities over the last 24 hours, bringing total infections to 345,027 with 2,791 deaths. – Bernama, July 12, 2021
