300,000 more AstraZeneca vaccines donated from Japan arrived

In a well-timed shipment, 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines have arrived in Bangkok today, a donation from Japan. Today is the anniversary of a milestone for Thailand and Japan, as September 26 is the anniversary of the original establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Today marks the 134th anniversary of the relationship between Japan and Thailand, a perfect opportunity for a generous donation from Japan of the AstraZeneca vaccines.

This is the third donation the Japanese government has made to help Thailand in its battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. In July, Japanese officials made a massive donation of 1.05 million AstraZeneca vaccines that they had requested be used to inoculate elderly people that are at high risk in Bangkok.

At the beginning of this month, Japan made a second donation of 300,000 vaccines on September 8, along with 775 oxygen concentrators needed to care for severe Covid-19 infections. They also donated equipment to help the cold chain system that keeps vaccines at very low temperatures during storage, transportation, and distribution.

Their donation of another 300,000 vaccines that arrived today brings the total to 1.65 million AstraZeneca vaccines that the Japanese government has donated to help Thailand inoculate its citizens to protect from Covid-19 over the past few months.

Today’s donation is part of a string of vaccine donations from Japan to other Southeast Asian countries with 500,000 doses to Taiwan, 400,000 doses for Vietnam, 300,000 for Thailand, and 100,00 doses for Brunei. In total, Japan has donated over 23 million vaccines of locally produced AstraZeneca.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand expressed thanks to its partners on its Twitter account.

“Thailand thanks #Japan for granting 3rd lot of 300,000-dose #AstraZeneca vaccines which arrived in Thailand today as to commemorate the 134th Anniversary of 🇹🇭🇯🇵 Diplomatic Relations. In total, Japan has already granted 1.65m-dose vaccines to 🇹🇭.” [sic]

SOURCE: Thai PBS World