AstraZeneca’s Thai Partner Has Begun Shipping Vaccinations Produced In Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand — Despite worries that they were late on their manufacturing plans for Thailand and Southeast Asia, AstraZeneca’s Thai partner launched the first delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday.

The first locally-made AstraZeneca doses were sent to Thailand’s Ministry of Health ahead of the country’s formal mass vaccination program’s commencement on June 7. There was no mention of how many were delivered.

Last year, AstraZeneca announced that Siam Bioscience will be its Southeast Asian vaccine production and distribution hub. The vaccinations would be available for shipment to other Southeast Asian nations in July, according to the company.

AstraZeneca is required to supply 6 million doses to Thailand on June, 10 million doses monthly from July through November, and a final 5 million doses in December as part of the plan.

Sinovac, a Chinese vaccine manufacturer, has been delivering Thailand vaccinations, with approximately 6 million on the way. The Thai government has licensed a total of five vaccinations, although only two are now accessible for usage.

Only around 4% of the country’s 69 million citizens have got at least one vaccination dosage thus far. By the end of the year, the government hopes to have thoroughly vaccinated around 70% of the population.

On Wednesday, Thailand reported 3,440 additional cases, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to 165,462 since the outbreak began. Since the beginning of April, more than 130,000 of these instances have been detected. The death toll now stands at 1,107, with 1,013 of those deaths occurring since the beginning of April.

Thailand has mostly managed to keep breakouts under control, but at a high cost to the economy, particularly in terms of tourism, because international tourists were mostly barred from entering the nation. That changed in early April when a cluster of cases concentrated on Bangkok pubs and clubs expanded as many individuals traveled over the Thai New Year vacation, which lasted for a week.