AstraZeneca extends delivery period for 61 million doses to May 2022
AstraZeneca has extended the delivery timeline for 61 million doses of vaccine from December this year to May 2022, Deputy Public Health Minister Satit Pitutecha said on Thursday.
Satit said AstraZeneca was currently capable of producing 15 million doses per month at the Nonthaburi factory of its local partner, Siam Bioscience. The company has promised to deliver 40 per cent of those doses to Thailand. That pledge falls short of the original target of 10 million doses per month.
The contract with AstraZeneca did not specify the delivery period, Satit revealed.
The government has now expanded its procurement target to 120 million doses of mRNA, viral vector and other types of vaccine.
“Therefore, we must combine the AstraZeneca received with other vaccine brands such as Sinovac,” said Satit.
Data showed that a Sinovac jab followed by an AstraZeneca jab offers 60 to 70 per cent protection against infection by the Delta variant, he said.
Delta is driving the current outbreak in Thailand, which logged 9,186 new infections and a record 98 deaths on Thursday.
The Vaccine Institute and the Department of Disease Control would negotiate with AstraZeneca before deciding whether to restrict exports of doses produced by the Siam Bioscience factory, said Satit. The factory is AstraZeneca’s regional production hub for Southeast Asia and Taiwan.
