Pfizer vaccine application received, review process begun

The Food and Drug Administration in Thailand is now processing the application for the Pfizer vaccine for domestic use against Covid-19. The secretary-general of the FDA says they have received the application from Pfizer Thailand and have begun the review process, taking the vaccine one step closer to use in Thailand.

The government had just submitted an order of 20 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday. The doses are scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The Public Health Minister explained Thailand’s plans for the vaccines, saying the Pfizer doses would be earmarked for school children since the vaccines have been approved for anyone over the age of 12. The exact details of how vaccination will be carried out have yet to be determined, but the Department of Disease Control will most likely administer the Pfizer vaccines to students at their schools.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that Thailand has already made arrangements for enough vaccines for the country’s vaccination drive to last the rest of the year. Plans now to procure more vaccines are looking ahead to 2022 vaccinations.

He also mentioned that AstraZeneca is not considered to have violated their contract with the Thai government even though they allegedly postponed the next vaccine delivery from June 14 to June 16, delayed after only one delivery was completed. The Health Minister said that all future deliveries are still scheduled as planned.

Separately from the Pfizer vaccine importation process, the Chulabhorn Royal Academy, which had made independent arrangements to import its own private supply of Sinopharm vaccines, prompting the government to hastily approve the Chinese vaccine for use in Thailand, is planning on launching its vaccination program on June 25.

The deputy secretary-general confirmed that they expect to receive the Sinopharm vaccines on June 20 and would spend 2 days inspecting them and 2 more days distributing the vaccines for use, before launching public vaccinations on June 25. Chulabhorn Hospital stated that each vaccine centre would have a minimum of 100 Sinopharm vaccines and that Bangkok and its surrounding provinces will receive daily vaccine deliveries.

The Academy has priced the Sinopharm vaccine at 888 baht each, not including service fee and medical charges. The price does however including insurance against side effects, which the chief of insurance and medical costs for the Academy has said will pay out a maximum of 30,000 baht for medical costs and up to 1 million baht compensation for extreme side effects that lead to a coma or death.

SOURCE:Bangkok Post