The National Health Security Office (NHSO) will order 200,000 more doses of a vaccine cocktail against three flu viruses - type-A (H3N2), type-B and 2009 type-A (H1N1) - from French manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur to people in high-risk groups, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said.
Jurin, who chairs the NHSO executive board, said the office would import the vaccine within two weeks.
People considered at high risk of complications from influenza include front-line healthcare workers, women three months into pregnancy, people who weigh more than 100 kilograms, the disabled, and people aged between six months and 62 years who have chronic conditions such as obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, heart disease, renal failure, cancer, thalassaemia, HIV or diabetes.
NHSO previously ordered 2.1 million doses of influenza vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur and the Department of Disease Control has provided 1,534,000 doses to people in the high-risk category. Jurin said he expected the vaccine would run out by the end of October, as the ministry has made vaccination available for free at hospitals nationwide.
Meanwhile, Sakon Nakhon Hospital director Dr Apichart Apiwattanaporn said the hospital still had a lot of flu vaccine in stock, as few people had paid attention to the threat and come in to receive inoculation. So far, about 2,000 people in the province had received vaccinations.
Many people in Sakon Nakhon province were reported with the 2009 flu virus. Most were aged between five and 14 years.
According to the Public Health Ministry, the seasonal flu has infected 66,090 people across the country. Of this number about 12,127 were infected with the 2009 H1N1 viruses.
Seasonal flu has killed 94 people so far this year, while the 2009 H1N1 viruses killed 85. About two people succumbed to the 2009 H1N1 virus last week.
In the third wave of the pandemic, Jurin said the spread had been seen in Roi Et, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Nayok.
However, he said Bangkok had the highest rate of infection, with 103.55 cases per 100,000 population, while the Southern provinces had the lowest rate at 3.90 per 100,000.