1.4 million doses in first shipment of US-made Moderna vaccines
The distributor of the Moderna mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, Zuellig Pharma Thailand, has confirmed another shipment of 1.4 million vaccines. The shipment is in addition to 500,000 vaccines received already, for a total of 1.9 million doses that the Thai Private Hospital Association ordered for distribution to paying customers. It marks the first time Moderna vaccines have been received from manufacturers in the US.
The new batch comes as another channel has just opened for supplying the Moderna vaccine. While the Food and Drug Administration in Thailand had approved the Moderna vaccine for importing into the country, it had previously approved the vaccines from the European manufacturers. Yesterday the Thai FDA approved the use of Moderna vaccines manufactured in the US for import as well.
The new round of Moderna vaccine imports will help speed the distribution of doses to those who prepurchased the vaccine and have been anxiously awaiting injection. The 1.4 million vaccines in the works will begin shipping from the US starting at the end of the month and into December.
The Moderna vaccines will be delivered to the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation who act as a middleman for all private vaccines imported into Thailand before being distributed to the Private Hospital Association after. The General Manager of Zuellig Pharma Thailand explained the shipping and distribution process.
“The company has immediately coordinated with Moderna to expedite imports from the United States. This lot is a special allocation by the Moderna company itself for Thailand in order for Thai people to receive the vaccine as soon as possible. Every batch of vaccines shipped to Thailand must go through a quality check before being dispatched from the manufacturer in the country of origin.”
The Moderna shipment comes as part of a stream of new vaccine imports that has been flowing more often and more reliably than at the beginning of the vaccine rollout, including another new shipment announced of 30 million Pfizer vaccines.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
