Johnson & Johnson applies for vaccine registration in Thailand

The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that multinational Johnson & Johnson has begun the process of registering its single-dose vaccine in Thailand. However, Surachoke Tangwiwat from the FDA adds that some required paperwork is still missing and will need to be filed within 30 days. Meanwhile, the FDA has begun checking the documentation that has been submitted.

Surachoke adds that, while the Chinese Sinovac jab has still not been registered for use in China, it may be given approval in the Kingdom, subject to the FDA concluding it is effective and safe.

Meanwhile, the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in conjunction with the UK’s Oxford University, was approved last week. However, Thailand’s plans to import its first doses this month has been affected by an EU ruling limiting exports of the jab, following a supply row between the bloc and the manufacturer.

The EU is fighting to guarantee access to the vaccine for all its member states, as well as campaigning for more transparency in exports being sent outside the bloc. It has now introduced a rule that such exports need to be approved by member countries.

In a Bangkok Post report, Sophon Mekthon from the sub-committee on Covid-19 vaccine management has not confirmed when the AstraZeneca vaccine might arrive in Thailand. However, he says the plan to produce it locally is going ahead. Siam Bioscience, a firm owned by the Crown Property Bureau, is expected to begin production in May, following the signing of a technology transfer agreement with AstraZeneca late last year.

Sophon says he has received assurances from the director of the National Vaccine Institute, Nakorn Premsri, that AstraZeneca will not be the only supplier of Covid-19 vaccines in the Kingdom. He says US firm Novavax could also be a provider, if its vaccine gains FDA approval.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post