200,000 Covovax vaccines from India expected to arrive in Thailand today
The Ministry of Public Health reports that Thailand will receive 200,000 Covovax vaccines from India today. Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, will be on call to receive the vaccine delivery personally.
The Director-General of the Disease Control Department, Dr. Opas Kankawinpong says that the Covovax vaccines were donated by the QUAD, or the countries that agreed on Quadrilateral Security Dialogue donated, including the US, India, Japan and Australia.
Covovax is an Indian version of the two-dose Novovax vaccine developed in the US.
The authority added that Covovax was very new and not many exports had been made since they started manufacturing in India.
The second dose, of the two-dose vaccine, would be given after 3 weeks. The vaccine was recommended for unvaccinated people or people allergic to other Covid-19 vaccines. The Thai public health authorities say it will need more studies before it is offered as a booster in Thailand.
Anan Jongkaewwattana, the Director of the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, reported on his Facebook page that the vaccine was manufacture in India with the same technology as the Novavax vaccine.
