Covid-19 vaccine 'will be out in 6 months'
Most countries should be able to produce a Covid-19 vaccine in the next six months, the Public Health Ministry declared on Monday (August 10).
Dr Thanarak Plipat, deputy director general from the ministry's Department of Disease Control, said more than 180 vaccines were under clinical trial in different countries, and 38 of them were already being tried on humans.
He explained that in the first phase, a vaccine is tested on no more than 100 volunteers, in the second phase it is tested on volunteers of both sexes, different ages and races to see if the vaccine is widely effective, and in the third phase the vaccine and a placebo is used on a large group of people to see if the vaccine really works.
"Of the 38 vaccines being tried on humans, 18 are in the first phase of testing, 12 vaccines are in the second phase, seven in the third phase, and one is being used on the Chinese army even though it has not yet undergone the third phase of testing," he said.
"Hence, we expect a Covid-19 vaccine to be ready in the next six months."
He added that the ministry has been supporting research and plans to procure as many vaccines as possible.
"While we are waiting for a vaccine, we have to prepare our personnel, organisations, and communities to deal with a second wave of infections that may emerge anytime," he added.
"But most importantly, people must not panic if there is a second Covid-19 wave."
