Thailand making vaccine deals with partner countries to combat Covid-19, says Foreign Ministry
The Foreign Ministry has been using diplomatic channels to procure Covid-19 vaccines and other aid from partner countries, ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said on Monday.
“The ministry has been strengthening ties with the US, China, Japan, India, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Russia, who in turn have been providing Covid-19 vaccines and other necessities to help us combat the pandemic,” he said.
Tanee added that China has donated more than 7.5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to Thailand and has helped facilitate the purchase and timely delivery of more Sinovac and Sinopharm doses.
Japan gave 1.05 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in early July, while the US donated 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine on July 30. The US has promised another 1 million Pfizer doses plus a $5 million (161.7 million baht) cash donation to Thailand’s Covid-19 fund.
In early August, the United Kingdom donated 415,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, while Bhutan agreed to enter a vaccine swap deal which would see it delivering 105,000 doses of AstraZeneca to Thailand.
Switzerland, meanwhile, donated 102 ventilators and 1.1 million rapid antigen test kits during an official visit of the Swiss vice president and foreign minister to Thailand on August 1-3.
The Foreign Ministry has also negotiated with the German government to obtain 2,000 sets of Casirivimab/Imdevim monoclonal antibodies to treat Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms.
“The ministry is seeking cooperation with India, South Korea and Australia to procure more vaccines for Thai people,” Tanee added.
