Ministry says 2 million doses will be ready for jab rollout on Monday
The Public Health Ministry says about two million doses of Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered before nationwide vaccination kicks off on Monday (June 7).
The ministry’s Department of Disease Control (DDC) confirmed the rollout would launch on June 7 with both AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines.
The assurance came after AstraZeneca (Thailand) confirmed it will deliver 6 million doses of vaccine in June. AstraZeneca vaccine is being manufactured by royally owned Thai company Siam Bioscience, but it remains unclear how many of the 6 million jabs will be made in Thailand.
DDC deputy chief Sopon Iamsirithaworn said hospitals were being supplied with vaccine ahead of the June 7 deadline.
Thailand’s mass vaccination programme is also open to foreign residents, though they must pre-register for jabs.
Four batches of vaccine totalling 5-6 million doses will be delivered in June, the DDC said. The ministry said it will deliver 240,000 AstraZeneca doses to hospitals in the next 1-2 days and about 1 million doses at the end of each week. Provinces with higher infection rates will get more doses, though every district will get vaccine in the next 4-5 months, Sopon said. Bangkok will get a higher proportion of doses due to its large population and high infection rate.
Thailand plans to administer 100 million doses of vaccine to fully inoculate 50 million people or 70 per cent of the population within this year. AstraZeneca has pledged 61 million doses, while Sinovac will deliver 10-16 million per month in batches of 3 million.
Meanwhile the government expects talks for 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to be finalised in the third quarter this year. Talks are also underway for about 5 million Johnson & Johnson jabs.
