The emergency use authorisation does not include fully vaccinated healthy people as both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines have shown to be highly effective at preventing hospitalisation and death in this group.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s administration has been extensively criticised for failing to secure timely and adequate vaccine supplies, which has complicated plans to vaccinate at least 70% of the country’s 69 million population this year.
An internal CDC document says more breakthrough infections and community spread are expected with the Delta variant despite Covid-19 vaccination, although vaccines prevent more than 90% of severe disease.
Covid-19 inoculation with AstraZeneca first, followed by Pfizer, boosts neutralising antibodies by six times compared to two AstraZeneca shots, according to a South Korea study.
Only fully vaccinated individuals and people who have recovered from Covid-19 will be able to dine in groups of five without taking Covid tests starting today.
New data by researchers at Georgetown University also shows clusters of unvaccinated people, mostly in the southern parts of the US, that are vulnerable to surges in Covid-19 cases and can turn into breeding grounds for even more deadly Covid-19 variants.
Spain accepts all vaccines approved by EMA and WHO, while Greece and Estonia accept vaccines recognised in the country of departure. Iceland accepts Pfizer, AstraZeneca produced in South Korea, and Sinovac, among others.
Singapore is also omitting Sinovac recipients from its national vaccination tally, with the government claiming there is little data on the vaccine’s efficacy against Covid-19 variants of concern.