A nationwide state of emergency prevails in Thailand.
On Friday, the country reported 14,575 new infections and 114 new covid-19 deaths.
- I can hear the ambulance sirens when they drive around here in Bangkok, and the government has introduced lockdown measures, says the Thai journalist Tong Tayamon to SVT News.
Joins Covax - but deliveries are delayed
Thailand has been the only Southeast Asian country outside the UN-supported vaccine program Covax until today, and has access to limited quantities of the Chinese vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm - as well as AstraZeneca vaccine produced on site in Thailand.
- All our neighboring countries have received vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer / Biontech, but not us, says Tong Tayamon.
On Wednesday, the head of the Thai Vaccine Institute apologized for the country's failure to secure sufficient vaccines and said it was now joining the Covax program.
The hope is that Thailand will be able to receive vaccine doses through Covax during the first quarter of 2022.
Changes the vaccine strategy
Two weeks ago, Thailand decided to change its vaccine strategy and give Astra Zeneca's vaccine as dose two to everyone who received the Sinovac vaccine in dose one.
This is after hundreds of healthcare workers who have been fully vaccinated with Sinovac have been infected with covid-19.
- Sinovac has a fairly low protective effect, especially compared to the delta variant that is now spread here, says Tong Tayamon.
Healthcare professionals who have received two doses of Sinovac should receive a third booster dose with either AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine.
Demonstrations against the country's government
At the same time, dissatisfaction with the country's handling of the situation is growing.
Thousands of protesters on Sunday challenged the corona restrictions to gather in Bangkok.
The demonstration marked the one-year anniversary of protests demanding, among other things, the resignation of the Prime Minister.
In addition to the original demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, the protesters want, among other things, the Thai population to have access to better vaccines against covid-19, and then mainly mRNA vaccines.