Surprise! Health officials said today that a delayed batch of AstraZeneca vaccines will arrive tomorrow along with the first shipment of China’s CoronaVac – and the prime minister has chosen which one to take when he becomes the first to be inoculated.
Public Health Minister Anutin Chanvirakul said 117,000 doses of the Oxford-developed vaccine will arrive from Italy weeks after they had been expected along with the 200,000 doses from Beijing. PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha, 66, will take the AstraZeneca shot because of new concerns the Chinese vaccine is unsuitable for those over 60.
Anutin said he had kept the Italian load a secret was due to the political drama surrounding the government’s procurement process, which had made the British-Swedish firm hesitant to supply Thailand. Anutin said they would have arrived last month if people hadn’t made so much noise,…
