Thailand to mix AstraZeneca, China's Sinovac vaccine to build 'high level of immunity'

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, authorities in Thailand have decided to mix Oxford's AstraZeneca with China's Sinovacvaccine.

Health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the move has been decided to "improve protection against the Delta variant" which has become the dominant strain in the country and also tobuild a "high level of immunity" against the virus.

The country's health ministry had earlier declared 618 medical workers were infected after receiving the Sinovac vaccine. Reports say Thailand is planning to give a booster dose to its health workers.

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Health officials had declared last week that medical staff who had already received two Sinovac doses would also receive a booster shot of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

According to a study carried out in the country, the Sinovac vaccine allowed antibody protection between 60 and 60 per cent in the first two months after the second dose, however, after that itseffectiveness decreased steadily and it reportedly halved every 40 days.

Last week Thailand had imposed night curfew in capital Bangkok due to a surge in virus cases. At least nine provinces have also witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases as officials moved to ban groups of more than five people and shut public transport from 9 pm.

Supermarkets, pharmacies and banks have been allowed to remain open as the Prayut Chan-O-Cha government struggles to contain the virus amid a slow rollout of vaccines.

The country has reported 345,000 COVID-19 cases and 2,791 fatalities so far, however, it has witnessed a surge in cases in recent weeks worrying health officials in the country.

The country is reportedly in the grip of a third wave with 9,539 new virus cases reported over the weekend and 86 deaths as reports say several areas are running out of hospital beds with the economy performing its worst since the Asian economic crisis in 1998.

The Thai government had announced it willreopen the country to fully vaccinated tourists in October. It had opened the popular tourist destination of Phuket last month, however, the response of tourists was lukewarm.

(With inputs from Agencies)