Thailand laments severe lack of vaccines

BANGKOK: The head of Thailand's National Vaccine Institute apologized for the country's slow and inadequate rollout of coronavirus vaccines, promising it will join the UN-backed Covax program to receive supplies from its pool of donated vaccines next year.

Thailand is battling a punishing coronavirus surge that is pushing new cases and deaths to record highs nearly every day. There is fear that the numbers will get much worse because the government failed to secure significant vaccine supplies in advance of the onslaught.