Thailand to take delivery of 61 million AstraZeneca doses by end of the year
A government spokesman says Thailand will receive 61 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca by the end of this year. According to a Nation Thailand report, Anucha Burapachaisri has also confirmed the company is working on second-generation vaccines to better handle future mutations of the virus.
“Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha had an online meeting with AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer Pascal Claude Roland Soriot on Monday, during which the company promised to deliver 61 million doses of the vaccine by December-end. This will bring the total number of vaccines that the government has procured so far to 120 million doses, covering about 60 million of the population.”
The Public Health Ministry recently announced its intention to start offering booster shots to the general public from next year, as well as vaccinating children. Officials are anxious to move towards herd immunity in order to reboot the tanked economy and Anucha says the news from AstraZeneca is a good start.
“AstraZeneca’s promise is great news because it would bring us closer to achieving herd immunity. This would help the economy to recover and allow Thais to return to their normal lifestyles sooner than expected.”
According to Anucha, the PM and the AstraZeneca CEO also discussed the possibility of new vaccine formulas to handle mutations and new variants, with the Thai government planning to purchase a further 60 million doses in 2022.
“AstraZeneca said it is developing a new formula of the vaccine with increased efficacy against new variants. The government is planning to buy another 60 million doses of the new formula in 2022. We estimate that a contract will be drafted and signed by September-end this year.”
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
