First vaccine relief from China gives Thailand a lift of health and economic expectations

Thailand's first COVID-19 vaccine delivery from China is expected to help the Southeast Asian nation better manage the outbreak and speed up economic recovery efforts, experts say.

Thailand approved Sinovac's vaccine for emergency use on Feb 22. The authorization will be valid for one year.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said on his verified Facebook page that the country will start injecting the target groups within three days after the vaccines arrive.

To ensure safe and smooth rollout of the vaccination program, epidemiologist Thira Woratanarat, associate professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University, suggested that related agencies promptly launch a publicity campaign to educate people about the vaccine and foster health literacy so as to maximize the public's confidence in the COVID jabs.

Thailand's total COVID-19 caseload rose to 25,693 on Feb 24, with more than four-fifths of the infections being detected in the new wave of infections since mid-December.

A survey from Bangkok University released on Feb 24 showed that more than two-thirds of people polled said they wanted to be inoculated against COVID-19 when the vaccines were available, according to Bangkok Post.

The Sinovac vaccine, if works well in terms of safety and protection efficacy, will help establish confidence in pandemic control and economic recovery, Tang Zhimin, director of China ASEAN Studies in the Bangkok-based Panyapiwat Institute of Management said.

After the COVID-19 resurgence, Thailand's finance ministry in January cut its 2021 economic growth outlook to 2.8 percent from a previous forecast made in October for 4.5 percent expansion, Reuters reported earlier this year.

"When markets return to their normal operating hours, the government discount packages to stimulate consumption will have a bigger multiplier effect which may in term boost business optimism and hopefully attract a new round of investment," said Tang.

"Most countries around the world are focusing on an efficient rollout of vaccine in order to stem the continued growth of the pandemic and Thailand is no exception," said Jesper Palmqvist, area director for Asia Pacific at data and consulting company STR.

Noting that Thai accommodation providers are seeing some of the lowest occupancy levels in Asia Pacific, Palmqvist said vaccination rollout can play a very big part in allowing authorities to start opening borders for travelers.

According to a Feb 23 report by Bangkok Post, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has suggested that the country should have a "vaccine passport" policy by June if the government plans to reopen the international market by the fourth quarter.

Though there is no cohesive plan yet among nations collaborating over "vaccine passports" or an approved regulatory framework on how nations will accept vaccinated travelers, Palmqvist said domestic vaccination will play an important role in promoting tourism recovery in Thailand as it will boost travel confidence.

Thailand aims to vaccinate at least 33 million people, half the nation's population, by the end of 2021.

The delivery on Feb 24 is part of Thailand's order of a total of 2 million doses from Sinovac. A second batch, comprising 800,000 doses, is set to arrive in March and another one million doses will arrive in April.

Besides the Sinovac vaccines, Thailand will also use AstraZeneca-developed vaccines, manufactured domestically by Siam Bioscience Co, according to Xinhua.

Chulalongkorn University's Thira warned that even with a vaccination program, the public cannot let up on mask-wearing, social distancing and other safety and personal hygiene practices.

Though COVID-19 vaccines have been "demonstrated to be efficacious for symptomatic infection and decrease severity, we can still have continuous asymptomatic infection and transmission at some extent", said Thira.

Thira said he expects Thailand's vaccination program to be implemented until at least mid-2022 to achieve an optimal proportion of vaccinated people.

That said, the timeframe could be moved up if the private sector is allowed to participate in the vaccination program, he said.