Thailand inks deal for 60 million AstraZeneca vaccines in 2022

A new deal signed with AstraZeneca confirms the purchase of 60 million vaccines next year for Thailand to use as booster shot third vaccines. The Ministry of Public Health signed the deal with the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer to acquire the booster shots over the course of 3 quarters of 2022.

The signing was accompanied by a ceremony attended by Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul and Department of Disease Director-General Control Dr Opas Karnkawinpong as well as AstraZeneca Thailand representatives.

The plan calls for a rollout of a first-quarter delivery of 15 million vaccines, followed by a second delivery of 30 million vaccines in the second quarter. The remaining 15 million vaccines of the deal would be delivered in the third quarter of 2022.

The contract deal between Thailand and AstraZeneca will see Thailand paying about 18 billion baht for the 60 million vaccines. That’s about 300 baht per vaccine.

A clause in the purchase contract with AstraZeneca gives the option of Thailand switching the deliveries to any newer version of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine that the producers might develop between now and the delivery date. The company is currently working on a second-generation vaccine already.

There was no mention in the report by MCOT of locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines produced by Siam Bioscience, a company wholly owned by a subsidiary of Crown Property Bureau. The local production was supposed to deliver 10 million vaccines a month for use in Thailand, while exporting more to the Southeast Asia region, a plan that has brought controversy and debate.

Thailand has been receiving AstraZeneca vaccines lately through donations by Japan and from Singapore.

SOURCE: MCOT