The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has explained that the COVID-19 strain, which emerged in India and has been detected among workers at an Italian-Thai Development construction camp in Bangkok’s Lak Si area, is not resistant to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
DDC Director-General Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong said 15 patients infected with the strain include seven males and eight females, with average age of 46. Of these, 12 people were workers at the Lak Si camp, while the other three were their family members.
He said information from Public Health England states that the Indian variant of COVID-19 spreads in the same pattern as the UK strain, but there is no evidence of more severe symptoms or a higher mortality rate.
Dr. Opas added that the Indian strain of the virus responds to the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is the one which Thailand aims to use as its primary vaccine.
