The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has moved to dispel concerns about the efficacy and safety of both monovalent and bivalent mRNA vaccines for Covid-19, after reports of adverse side-effects made the rounds on social media.
DDC director-general Tares Krassanairawiwong, said on Monday the government was committed to ensuring the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines available in the country.
Before the vaccines were rolled out, a committee had examined their effectiveness against new infections, as well as their impact on the rate of hospitalisation and deaths among those infected, he said.
The committee had already looked into the reports of supposed adverse reactions, to determine if they were really caused by Covid-19 vaccines.
To date, over 146 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been administered in Thailand, about 55 million of which were mRNA vaccines.
The most common side-effects reported by jab recipients were mild fever and swelling around the injection site.
Reports of severe side-effects were rare, Dr Tares said. There was no evidence linking mRNA vaccines to encephalitis, a swelling of the brain.
Dr Tares conceded that instances of myocarditis had been reported following the administration of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. The likelihood of inflammation was extremely low - about one in 1 million cases, he said.
Prof Kulkanya Chokepaiboonkij, a paediatric specialist at Mahidol University's faculty of medicine in Siriraj Hospital, said mRNA vaccines were not experimental drugs.
The vaccines had been put through rigorous safety testing before they were given to the public, she said, noting that more than 1 billion doses had been administered worldwide so far.
She said there was a vast body of study in Thailand and abroad showing that the vaccines were effective at curbing the spread of the virus and reducing deaths.
Thailand recently received 501,120 doses of second generation bivalent vaccine from South Korea, which the Ministry of Public Health plans to giver as boosters to vulnerable individuals in March.
Between Feb 19-25, 204 new Covid-19 inpatients were reported across the country, along with nine deaths from the virus, bringing the number of new inpatients since Jan 1 this year to 4,116, with 242 covid-related deaths.
