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Moderna Jabs At Bangkok Hospital Snapped Up In Seconds
Gone in 60 secs??
All appointments for Moderna jabs were snapped up just seconds after registration opened at Phyathai 2 Hospital in Bangkok on Thursday.
Each customer was permitted to reserve up to two doses of the alternative vaccine at 1,650 baht per dose.
They were required to pay the full amount up front in exchange for an e-coupon. The booking cannot be cancelled or refunded, but can be transferred to another recipient, said the hospital.
The Moderna jab is an alternative to the Sinovac and AstraZeneca jabs directly procured by the government for its free vaccination rollout.
Disappointed customers complained they had registered for the Moderna shot at 12.01pm only to find that registration was closed because appointments had all been snapped up.
The hospital explained that its whole vaccine quota allotted by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation had been booked up, though it did not reveal how many jabs it had been given.
Bangkok recorded 2,212 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday as the country registered a daily record of 7,058 infections and 75 deaths.
Covid panel to consider fresh curbs in Bangkok, nearby areas
Hospitals stretched as new infections show no signs of slowing
A beach-goer sits next to lounge chairs stacked on Kamala beach in Phuket on June 26. Photographer: Luke Duggleby/Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AZN:LN Thailand’s top Covid panel is set to consider a partial lockdown of the nation’s worst virus-hit regions, including the Bangkok metropolitan area, to quell the deadliest wave of infections.
The national task force will meet on Friday to decide on Health Ministry’s proposals for stay-at-home orders and a ban on travel between provinces for two weeks, Permanent Secretary of Public Health Kiattiphum Wongrajit told reporters on Thursday. While essential businesses and services such as food markets and hospitals may be allowed to operate, people will be barred from traveling for non-essential activities, he said.
The proposed curbs are similar to a national lockdown last year when all the non-essential businesses were closed and a ban on social gatherings and local travel was in force for about a month, according to Kiattiphum. The partial lockdown may cover the greater Bangkok area -- home to more than 10 million people and contributing about 45% to the nation’s gross domestic product -- and some provinces with high Covid cases, he said.
The push for tighter containment measures follows a 10-fold surge in infections since early April that threatened to derail Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s pledge to fully reopen the country in about 100 days. Health experts had called for strict containment measures, saying the more contagious delta variant would cause a spike in infections and deaths amid a low rate of vaccinations.
Airport workers wait in line to receive Covid-19 vaccinations at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on June 30.
Photographer: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images https://www.bloomberg.com/prognosis?in_source=postr_index
Thailand, the first country outside China to report a Covid infection, has struggled to stem the pandemic after its initial success to combat the virus last year, when it imposed a hard lockdown. But that crippled its all-important tourism industry and plunged the economy into its worst performance in more than two decades. Prayuth, who had previously been reluctant to impose a lockdown to avoid further damage to jobs and industries, said on Thursday there’s a need for disease control measures that may affect daily lives. https://sponsored.bloomberg.com/immersive/yokogawa/a-measured-and-purposeful-response
“If we do nothing, the situation may get worse,” Prayuth said in a post on Facebook. “We may need to impose more stringent measures to limit mobility, prevent group activities, and close more businesses and activities.”
With the delta variant, first detected in India, now sweeping through the region, there’s growing pressure on leaders like Prayuth and Indonesian President Joko Widodo to impose tighter measures. Any further dithering may lead to the crisis worsening in Thailand, according to Anan Jongkaewwattana, an expert in molecular virology and director of the research unit at the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.
“A strict lockdown is the only way out,” Bangkok-based Anan said before the health ministry proposed tighter curbs. “It might hurt the economy now, but things will be better in the long run once we can contain the spread.”
Asian Hotspots
Thailand has one of Asia's highest case counts per capita in the past week
Source: Worldometer
Data shows cases in the last seven days per one million population
Prayuth set a 120-day deadline last month to fully open Thailand to vaccinated foreign visitors, which he said was a calculated risk to reduce “the enormous suffering of people who have lost their ability to earn an income.” He wants the tourism industry, which contributed about 20% to GDP pre-pandemic, to hum again.
That has meant allowing many businesses to operate normally in Bangkok and nearby provinces even though they are the hotspots of the current Covid wave. Although Prayuth has ordered restrictions for restaurants and construction work, the outbreak has raged on with daily cases averaging more than 5,000 in the past week. On Thursday, the nation added 7,058 new cases and 75 deaths, a new daily record.
“If this situation continues, the Thai outbreak will be worse than Indonesia’s on a per-capita basis, with as many as 20,000 cases per day in the next few months,” Anan said. “Infections aren’t just limited to construction camps and crowded communities -- it’s more widespread than that so current restrictions aren’t enough.”
A slow vaccination drive, that relies mostly on shots from AstraZeneca Plc and China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., has hampered efforts to contain the virus spread. Thailand has administered about 11.3 million shots, enough to cover about 8% of its population, ranking the country behind more than 120 other nations in vaccination rate.
BANGKOK -- Insurance claims over popular COVID-19 insurance policies in Thailand have grown tenfold since last year, prompting insurance authorities to launch investigations into possible fraud.
The Office of Insurance Commission, the country's insurance regulator, has warned on its website it is investigating possible insurance fraud after seeing COVID claims soar.
As of end-April 2020, when Thailand began witnessing a third wave of the pandemic, the number of COVID-19 policyholders stood at 13.8 million with total premiums of 5.9 billion baht ($184 million), according to the OIC. COVID-19 claims for the month jumped to 1.7 billion baht from 170 million baht the previous year.
Analysts attributed the rise in COVID-19 claims to the pandemic-battered Thai economy, which has seen people hit so hard that they deliberately risk infection to receive insurance payouts.
With suspicious claims rising, some major non-life insurance companies have stopped selling COVID-19 policies. Bangkok Insurance announced on its website that had stopped selling policies on June 29 while Viriyah Insurance stopped on June 30.
The Thai General Insurance Association -- which comprises all 56 non-life insurance companies in Thailand -- is warning people against deliberately becoming infected with COVID-19 in order to claim compensation because they may face fraud charges.
The warning comes after several viral social media posts showed families celebrating after receiving payouts due to having contracted the virus.
"There is even a young lady selling inhalers on her Facebook page that she says contain the coronavirus," said a senior official at the OIC. "Buyers can use the inhalers to get infected and then claim compensation. That's why we need to issue the warnings. They not only risk catching COVID but also risk breaking the law."
When COVID first struck Thailand last year, several insurance companies started to offer non-life COVID-19 insurance policies. Customers could buy 100,000 baht to 300,000 baht of coverage for only about 500 baht a year.
The insurance companies now find themselves not only covering claims for legitimate people suffering from the virus, but also the economically desperate who purposely catch the deadly disease to collect money.
BANGKOK -- Thailand's loss-making flag carrier Thai Airways International has proceeded with a plan to reduce its registered capital by 19% as part of a court-approved rehabilitation to improve its balance sheet.
The company will decrease registered capital from 26.9 billion baht ($822 million) to 21.8 billion by writing off unissued and unsold shares as stipulated in its rehabilitation plan, Suvadhana Sibunruang, the acting CEO, said on Friday.
The capital decrease is one step in the rehabilitation approved by the Central Bankruptcy Court in June. By decreasing its share capital the airline can reduce some accumulated losses and improve its financial condition.
The rehab plan consists of an organizational restructuring that will halve the company's pre-COVID workforce and cut executive positions by 30%. The airline has also been selling off aircraft, facilities and stockholdings as part of a review of its asset portfolio, and to raise working capital.
The company has said that it will continue to reduce its workforce by almost half and cut remuneration package expenses to return to competitiveness within three to five years. However, analysts said that will not be sufficient to repair its damaged balance sheet.
The airline needs a major cleanup, including new funds to tide itself over during the five-to-seven-year rehabilitation. Creditors have been reluctant to accept large losses as part of the rehabilitation process.
Thai Airways has only recorded annual profits twice in the past decade, and the rehabilitation program mainly deals with its unprofitable businesses. Some experts are also concerned about uncertainty in the air travel business.
Thai Airways posted a net loss of 141 billion baht in 2020 due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cut the number of passengers sharply. It carried 76% fewer passengers and 72% less cargo by volume in 2020 than the previous year, resulting in a 74% drop in its total operating revenue to 48.6 billion baht.
The rehab plan aims to bring the airline back to stable profitability by 2025. Meeting that target depends on the smooth execution of the rehabilitation and recovery of the air travel market.
What PM’s donated salary could buy for Covid battle
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has vowed to donate three months of his salary to efforts to fight the Covid-19 crisis.
Prayut made the vow as the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Friday imposed a 14-day partial lockdown in six provinces – Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon. The two-week lockdown measures will run from Saturday in the Dark-Red Zone provinces.
The prime minister earns a total of 125,590 baht per month – 75,590 baht in salary plus a personal allowance of 50,000 baht. Hence, Prayut will donate a total of 376,770 baht.
Here's how Prayut’s salary could help medical staff on the front line of the battle against Covid-19.
What PM’s donated salary could buy for Covid battle
Meanwhile, total monthly salaries for deputy prime ministers, ministers and deputy ministers are as follows: Deputy PM
▪︎ 74,420 baht salary
▪︎ 45,500 baht personal allowance
Total: 119,920 baht per month
Minister
▪︎ 73,240 baht salary
▪︎ 42,500 baht personal allowance
Total: 115,740 baht per month
Deputy Minister
▪︎ 72,000 baht salary
▪︎ 41,500 baht personal allowance
Total: 113,560 baht per month
The PM, deputy PMs, ministers and deputy ministers can also claim travel expenses, medical expenses and meeting allowances. Published : July 09, 2021
Thailand sees tougher Covid-19 curbs bite, including Bangkok curfew
Thailand has posted over 326,300 cases and 2,711 deaths - with the bulk of them from the latest wave that kicked off in April.PHOTO: AFP
BANGKOK (AFP, REUTERS) - More than 10 million people were placed under fresh Covid-19 restrictions and a curfew in the Thai capital on Monday (July 12), as the kingdom battles a surge of cases worsened by the highly infectious Alpha and Delta variants.
Thailand has so far recorded more than 345,000 cases and 2,791 deaths - with the bulk of them coming in this latest wave that kicked off in April. There were 8,656 infections and 80 deaths recorded on Monday.
First detected in clubs frequented by the Thai elite and politicians at an upscale Bangkok nightlife district, the surge in infections has been exacerbated by a slow vaccine roll-out and limited testing capacity.
In addition to the capital, nine other provinces that have seen a steady uptick in infections saw more restrictions bite.
Police checkpoints sprung up across Bangkok in the early hours of Monday as a curfew from 9pm to 4am came into force, with police officers wearing masks and facial shields stopping cars in the centre of the capital.
Residents are barred from gathering in groups of more than five people, while public transport networks will shut from 9 pm.
Supermarkets, restaurants, banks, pharmacies and electronics stores within malls will be able to stay open but other shops have shuttered.
'So slow'
The government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has come under vociferous criticism for its handling of the pandemic - from its management and procurement of vaccines to its ad hoc enforcement of rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19 - and anger is high among Thais at the new measures.
"The government decided to impose a lockdown but they don't have compensatory measures for the people whatsoever," said restaurant owner Arphawan Larangam.
Some say the movement restrictions should have come sooner before the brunt of the new highly contagious variants was felt among the population.
"The government does everything so slow. If they really want to impose a lockdown, they should've done it a lot sooner," said university student Jit.
The virus has hit poor communities the hardest, especially those living in Bangkok's slums, where social distancing is not possible.
Long lines of people waited at two free testing clinics to get swabbed last week, with local media showing people camped under a tollway in Khlong Toei district - where Bangkok's largest slum is located - as they waited for negative results before going home to their families.
One temple on the outskirts of Bangkok providing free funeral services to those unable to pay has been overwhelmed with bodies. Its crematorium barely able to handle the demand.
Separately, Thailand’s mass immunisation strategy against the coronavirus will now include administering a shot of AstraZeneca’s vital vector vaccine after one dose of Sinovac’s vaccine, its health minister said on Monday.
The move aims to increase protection against highly transmissible variants, Mr Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters.
