Thailand defends vaccine-mixing plan after WHO calls it ‘dangerous’
BANGKOK: Thailand yesterday defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines to battle a surge in infections, after the World Health Organisation's (WHO) top scientist warned it was a "dangerous trend" not backed by evidence.
The country is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Thailand recorded 8,685 infections and 56 deaths yesterday, among the 353,712 cases and 2,847 fatalities overall, the bulk of which occurred since early April.
The authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with a second dose of AstraZeneca to try and achieve a "booster" effect in six weeks instead of 12.
Thailand's chief virologist Yong Poovorawan said this would be possible by combining an inactivated virus vaccine - Sinovac - with a viral vector vaccine such as AstraZeneca.
"We cannot wait 12 weeks (for a booster effect) in this outbreak where the disease is spreading fast," he said.
His comments come a day after WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan called the strategy a "dangerous trend".
"We are in a bit of a data-free, evidence-free zone as far as mix-and-match (is concerned)," she said.
Healthcare workers were the first to receive Sinovac, but the authorities said on Sunday that nearly 900 medical staff still got infected.
They will now also get an AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, the authorities said. - AFP, REUTERS
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