1. As of 19 Aug 2021, Thailand administered a total of over 25.8 million doses of vaccines. Yesterday, there were 651,606 doses of vaccine administered. In Bangkok, 81.4 percent of the population have received at least their first shots of vaccines. Meanwhile, 94.3 percent of people aged 60 and older in Bangkok have also already been inoculated with at least their first doses of vaccine.
2. Yesterday, the Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Public Health co-chaired discussions on improving management and allocation of vaccines to all people living in Thailand. The meeting also emphasized how the government could help support the production of Thai homegrown mRNA vaccines currently being developed by a Thai medical research team at Chulalongkorn University.
3. This morning, the Department of Disease Control signed a purchasing contract with Pfizer BioNTech to secure 30 million doses of vaccine which will be delivered to Thailand by the end of this year. This was an amendment to the previous agreement of 20 million doses, for an additional 10 more million doses.
4. Vaccinations for foreign nationals in Thailand continues to progress well. Private hospitals are also assisting government efforts towards this end. As of 18 August 2021, 394 foreign residents have been inoculated at Samitivej Hospital, which include people aged 60 and above, 7-underlying conditions and pregnant women.
5. The number of new confirmed cases today is 19,851 cases. There are currently 205,946 active cases and another 1,772 positive cases tested by Antigen Test Kit (ATK) with 20,478 new recoveries and 240 new fatalities. The total number of fatalities stands at 8,826.
6. Cities and provinces reporting highest numbers of new cases continue to be Bangkok with 4,181 new cases followed by Samut Sakhon (1,556 cases) Chonburi (1,348 cases) Samut Prakarn (1,055 cases) and Nakorn Ratchasima (575 cases).
7. The CCSA deeply appreciates the overwhelming support from private sector, civil society and volunteers for setting community isolation centres and mobilizing help for infected patients in home isolation systems which is being done in parallel with efforts already deployed by government agencies to set up more hospitels, field hospitals, active testing teams sent to conduct testing with Antigen Test Kits. All these efforts will help strengthen the health care system and free resources to provide better care to patients who require medical attention. This is the whole of society approach that will help improve the situation in Thailand.
8. Yesterday, the Prime Miniter has visited Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University to observe developments on the ChulaCov19 research of Thailand’s first mRNA vaccine and to follow up the Home Isolation system operated by King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. The government will fully support the production of domestic vaccines to reduce vaccine shortage in the country.
9. The Department of Disease Control is in the process for final approval to allow incoming travelers who have been vaccinated with Sputnik V to join the Phuket Sandbox scheme. The MFA is already prepared to receive such applicants. Once the process from DDC is finalized, travelers may apply for COE directly via https://coethailand.mfa.go.th
Full CCSA English briefing can be viewed here >>>
https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/videos/300801531797307
Source: CCSA, Ministry of Public Health and Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)