The Public Health Ministry will ask the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to maintain the current curfew hours imposed in so-called dark-red provinces until the end of this month, says Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the ministry’s Department of Disease Control.
Dr Karnkawinpong said this is one of a set of proposals to be presented to the CCSA at its meeting on Friday.
The ministry will propose an easing of some COVID-19 restrictions, to allow nursing homes to accept elderly people who need care, among other relaxations, he said. However, strict disease control measures would be maintained, according to Dr Karnkawinpong.
The ministry has also agreed to adjust the 9pm–4am curfew hours according to the needs of each colour-coded zone, he said.
However, for dark-red zones, including Bangkok, curfew hours should be maintained until the end of the month, Dr Karnkawinpong said.
Another proposal, involving a plan to administer 24 million COVID-19 vaccine doses next month, will also be presented to the CCSA, he said, noting that 10 million AstraZeneca, 8 million Pfizer and 6 million Sinovac doses are due to be delivered to Thailand.
Pfizer has told the ministry that its first batch of 2 million doses will arrive at the end of this month, he said.
Asked whether the ministry will revise its plan to administer Pfizer jabs to children aged 12-18 after some countries reported cases of heart muscle inflammation in young people who received the vaccine, he said the condition is rare and the ministry will stick to its original plan.
“The benefit of vaccines still outweighs the unpleasant conditions,” Dr Karnkawinpong said.
He said the ministry has also approved a plan to administer booster shots to vaccine recipients, though the decision would depend on the availability of vaccines and the readiness of agencies involved, adding only AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots are being considered to serve as boosters.
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