Vaccines will arrive within this month, insists Anutin
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced recently that the first lot of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive this month as promised, saying February is still not over as he slammed critics for attacking the government’s tardiness.
The minister said the vaccine procurement process has stumbled slightly, but it is still in line with the plan that the first batch will arrive in February.
Thailand is scheduled to take delivery of 2 million doses of the inoculation from Chinese vaccine producer Sinovac Biotech between now and April.
The Thai government has been criticised for being slow in the rollout of inoculations compared to neighbouring countries like Singapore and Indonesia.
Anutin, however, insisted that the government has paid earnest money to Sinovac Biotech and the order has been placed.
He added that the order was placed under expert advice on the vaccine’s effectiveness, price and storage.
He also said the vaccine was not bought on the World Health Organisation’s Covax deal, because the price of the vaccine is higher than if bought directly from producers.
RELATED