Thailand Pays out its First 8,470 COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Claims under National Health Security Office Program

The government of Thailand is committing approximately $30 billion to compensate individuals who have experienced adverse side events from the COVID-19 vaccines over the past several months, reports the Southeast nation’s National Health Security Office (NHSO). To date 8,470 claimants, out of a total of 11,707 have been compensated reports Atthaporn Limpanyalet, deputy secretary-general of the NHSO.

Thus far, about 65.1% of the country’s population is fully vaccinated and nearly 9% of the population has received a third booster dose. Thailand experienced a huge surge in Delta variant-driven infections over the summer but new cases have rapidly decreased in number. To put in perspective, by August 15, the country reported 21,282 new cases; on December 30 that number arrived at 3,037. Record numbers of deaths for this Southeast Asian country hovered over 250 fatalities per day during August and parts of September but deaths have dramatically declined down to 25 nationwide yesterday.

Categories for Claims

The NHSO segments COVID-19 vaccine injury claims into three categories including:

  • Mild-to-moderate side effects

  • Temporary paralysis and/or loss of other bodily functions

  • Permanent paralysis or death

Multiple Thai media including the prominent Bangkok Post reports that for each category a corresponding amount is allocated as follows:

COVID Vaccine Injury Category#sBaht/USDMild-to-moderate side effects 6,298100,000 $3,010USTemporary paralysis and/or loss of other bodily functions210240,000 $7,224USPermanent paralysis or death1,962400,000 $12,040

Note, a claimant can seek compensation for themselves or relatives. The Bangkok Post reports that 1,752 of the claims have been rejected due to the failure of the claimant to meet the adverse event criteria above. Thus far 615 Thais have appealed this rejection.

The NHSO’s Atthaporn reports that 13 committees are dispersed across the country to process claims which are apparently remunerated within five days of NHSO authorization.

Vaccine Background Thailand

TrialSite reported on early delays in vaccine production in Thailand, as a questionable contract was allocated to a biotech company owned by the nation’s King Vajiralongkorn. His biotech firm called Siam Bioscience received a technology transfer as part of a co-investment deal to produce the vaccine.   

The aforementioned deal was based on the nation’s order of 26 million doses of the AstraZeneca (Oxford) COVID-19 vaccine by November 2020 as reported in various media. The government ordered another 35 million additional doses of AZD1222 by January 2021. While the nation’s government discussed an additional purchase of 61 million AZD1222 doses, a leaked document cast doubt on this as it evidenced AstraZeneca would only deliver 60% of the total amount.

Additional vaccine products were accessed, including 2 million doses from China’s Sinovac—apparently, the Thai conglomerate called Charoen Pokphand invested in Sinovac by April 2021.

The Thai government also procured 30 million of the mRNA-based vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech, yet only 3.5 million doses have arrived. Part of the supply of the BNT162b2 vaccine came as donations from the American government. An additional 5 million doses of the single-shot Janssen (Johnson and Johnson) vaccine were ordered.

The Thai government also has pursued indigenously developed vaccines such as “ChulaCov19” with clinical trials commencing May 2021 as reported by Al Jazeera.  Mahidol University commenced Phase 1 investigation into NDV-HXP-S by March 2021. Some have questioned this approach. 

For comparison, in the United States, the initiation of the PREP Act during the COVID-19 emergency effectively shields pharmaceutical producers to hospitals from any liability due to basic negligence. The government has a limited fund for injuries.

Summary

A total of 103 million COVID-19 doses have been administered to the Thai population, which totals about 70 million people. Those vaccines include AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, and Janssen. To date, 8,470 claimants, out of a total of 11,707, have been compensated, reports the NHSO.