A viral claim suggesting that the Thai government is planning to ban Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in the country following Princess Bajrakitiyabha's sudden collapse is found to be untrue. The Thai princess had collapsed in December, following which she went into coma.
Thai Princess Collapsed Days After Taking Third Booster Jab?
The 44-year-old Princess and the eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn lost consciousness in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province on December 15.
Soon after there were several anti vaxxers claiming that the Thai Princess had received the third booster jab just 23 days ago. The recent reports regarding the ban of Pfizer's Covid-19 vax in Thailand emerged after a claim made by Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, a retired Thai-German microbiologist, reported Lead Stories.
Claiming that a Pfizer-BioNTech contract with Thailand was "based on fraud because there were no safety studies." Bhakdi said, "And so they said to me, we will see to it that Thailand is the first country in the world that is going to declare this contract null and nullify the contract. ...
Something happened you know, in December, and that is that the one daughter of the present king ... collapsed and is in coma. She, within, I think it was 23 days, after the third shot ... 44 years old, never been seriously ill, collapsed and is now in a coma and the diagnosis that was given by the authorities and by the university is so ridiculous. She's supposed to have a bacterial infection that will never do what she is suffering from ...
We are sending information to the royal family to alert them to the fact that, in all probability, the princess is suffering as a victim of this jab." he said.
Here is the Truth
Debunking the claims, Associated Press reported that the country does not intend to reconsider its contract with Pfizer or other COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers. Speaking to the outlet, an official from Thailand's National Vaccine Institute, part of its Ministry of Health, denied that the government is considering ending the import of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. ""There are no orders to stop or slow down usage or reconsider its use. We are still moving forward and using it," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
Debunking the claim, Thailand's Department of Disease Control posted on its Facebook page urging the people not to believe the fake news. "FAKE NEWS DO NOT SHARE! The public is requested not to be fooled and ask for cooperation not to send, or share such information on various social media channels," read the post which also carried a screenshot of Bhakdi's interview, along with a version of the false claim.
In a Jan. 7 statement, the royal palace said Bajrakitiyabha remained unconscious and on life support after falling into a coma while training dogs for an army exhibition. The statement attributed her collapse to an irregular heartbeat caused by a mycoplasma infection, a bacterial illness usually associated with pneumonia. The palace, in a prior statement, also said she suffered a brain aneurysm, the outlet reported.
