‘Thai 61m AZ dose order likely delayed to May’
BANGKOK: The delivery of 61 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Thailand is expected to be completed in May next year.
Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha said this delay was expected to affect the country’s vaccination rollout.
The Bangkok Post quoted Sathit as saying delivery was originally set for the end of this year.
However, he said, the company had promised to try its best to meet the order.
“Normally, a vaccine manufacturer does not make such a commitment. It will do it if possible. But the company does not have enough production capacity to respond to rising global demand,” he said.
But if any country that had ordered the AstraZeneca vaccine could procure doses from other manufacturers first, the government would negotiate with the company to deliver the vaccines to
Thailand instead, he added.
Sathit said the company would deliver one-third of its output to Thailand, though the country had tried to negotiate for as many doses as possible, or 40 per cent of the vaccines produced in the country.
“Currently, we have administered the doses that are available to us. This month, we have procured 10 million doses, so it is still going according to plan.”
Under the original vaccine roadmap, the AstraZeneca vaccines, made by local manufacturer Siam Bioscience, would provide the government with 10 million doses of the vaccine each month from July until the end of the year.
But the government recently admitted that the company could supply Thailand only five to six million doses a month, or one third of its total supply, while the rest would be exported.
The government on Wednesday said it was considering limiting Covid-19 vaccine exports.
“We have to wait for AstraZeneca vaccines day by day. That’s not easy because the vaccine market is dominated by big companies worth more than our annual budget,” said Sathit.
He said the government might have a timeline for the delivery of 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine this year, mainly from AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Pfizer.
“The Disease Control Department will sign a contract with Pfizer to procure 20 million doses.
“The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation will also sign a deal with Moderna for five million doses next week,” Sathit said.
“All will be delivered in October. This will be the vaccine rollout planned for next year.”
The government also planned to import viral vector vaccines from Johnson & Johnson.