Royal Academy to import 1 million Sinopharm doses next month
Chulabhorn Royal Academy (CRA) said on Friday it expects to import about 1 million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine in June.
The move comes after the FDA approved the vaccine for emergency use in Thailand, with Bio Genetech Ltd registered as the importer. The academy was granted the power to procure alternative vaccines as per an announcement in the Royal Gazette earlier this week.
The first batch of about 1 million doses is expected to be delivered by June, while the CRA will cooperate with the Public Health Ministry on vaccine distribution and insurance.
CRA secretary-general Dr Nithi Mahanonda said government and private organisations had already expressed interest in purchasing vaccine from the academy.
"We are considering offering vaccination to organisations or hotels and enable all sectors to operate their business," he said.
The CRA will also seek other Covid-19 vaccines for study and research in a bid to contain the spread of virus as soon as possible, he added.
Meanwhile, CRA was negotiating a price for the vaccine based on production, delivery and storage costs.
Nithi insisted the academy would not make any profit from the Covid-19 jabs.
The Sinopharm brand is an inactivated vaccine, like Sinovac and Covaxin.
It is registered for use on people aged 18 and over, with 65 million doses administered so far in China, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Hungary.
Sinopharm is the sixth vaccine approved for emergency use by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which says it is 79 per cent effective against symptomatic Covid-19 infection. The vaccine can also be stored in a refrigerator at 2-8 degrees Celsius.
