Thailand moves to limit exports of locally-made AstraZeneca
Thailand is moving ahead with plans to limit exports of locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine as domestic Covid-19 cases soar.
A draft document specifying limits on vaccine exports was agreed by the National Vaccine Board on Wednesday and passed to the National Vaccine Institute and Department of Disease Control (DDC).
National Vaccine Institute director Nakorn Premsri did not reveal any figures for the limit.
AstraZeneca Thailand’s partner, Siam Bioscience, has been contracted to produce 180 million doses this year – 61 million for Thailand and the rest for other countries in Southeast Asia.
However, Thailand quickly ran short of AstraZeneca doses after its mass vaccination launched on June 7, while deliveries to the Philippines and Malaysia have been delayed.
AstraZeneca delivered 6 million doses for Thailand last month and is expected to match that number this month, missing its target of 10 million doses for July.
Meanwhile, the vaccine institute and DDC resolved to hasten moves to procure 100 million doses of vaccine for Thailand this year, Nithi said.
Barely 5 per cent of the population has been vaccinated in Thailand, where the daily caseload has surged to almost 10,000.
