Thai Public Health Minister provides Covid-19 vaccine updates today, AstraZeneca remains main vaccine for Thailand.

 Thai Public Health Minister provides Covid-19 vaccine updates today, AstraZeneca remains main vaccine for Thailand

Thursday, 20 May 2021, 13:18

PHOTO: hfocus

Bangkok –

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul today, May 20th, reported the progress of Covid-19 vaccine imports in Thailand, stressing that AstraZeneca will be the main vaccine to be given out for people across the country while Sinovac is for emergency distribution only.

The Minister further stated that a vaccination trading agreement is officially made when both manufacturers and the Thai government mutually agree on the risks and conditions before negotiating the pricing and distribution of vaccines in Thailand.

PHOTO: Johnson & Johnson

Recently, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been already registered with the FDA and agreed to sell to the government only. The Department of Disease Control is currently negotiating the procurement process with the manufacturer. If the discussion went well and both parties agreed to each other's conditions, the Johnson & Johnson vaccination could presumably be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Moderna vaccine has also been registered in Thailand and confirmed to negotiate trading with the government sector. The main Moderna vaccine distribution is set to be in the private sector. The private sector who wants to purchase the vaccine must negotiate with Moderna representatives before informing the amount of vaccine needs to the Thai government. The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) will act as a coordinator throughout the procedure. The Moderna vaccine is likely to arrive in Thailand in the fourth quarter as well.

PHOTO: AstraZeneca

For AstraZeneca, the main vaccine in Thailand, that has a domestic production, the manufacturer has confirmed that the first lot will be delivered to Thailand by June 2021. If the local production has a problem, AstraZeneca must provide the same amount of vaccines to Thailand according to the contract agreement. Regarding the Sinovac vaccine, it continuously arrived in the country to resolve the current outbreak since the beginning of 2021. AstraZeneca has continually stated that there have not been delays in local production and they are "fully on track" to the June timetable.

Regarding the Pfizer vaccine, the government and manufacturers are reaching a stage where both parties understand the terms and conditions. The first lot can be delivered in the second half of the year if the government agrees to proceed with the trading. Pfizer will be administered to children 12 years of age and over.

Finally, Russian's Sputnik V vaccine has just begun with the negotiation and the company is currently preparing documents for FDA registration.