BANGKOK – AstraZeneca said it is on schedule to meet its target in delivering the Covid-19 vaccine in Southeast Asia.
The pharmaceutical company in a statement said Siam Bioscience Co Ltd, which is manufacturing the vaccine in Thailand, will produce approximately 180 million doses this year.
“In parallel with continued domestic deliveries, AstraZeneca will start exporting the vaccine to other Southeast Asian countries in early July.
“One-third of the local supply capacity has been reserved for use in Thailand, based on the country’s order of 61 million doses. The remaining two-thirds will be distributed across contracting countries in the wider Southeast Asian region.”
AstraZeneca said Thailand will receive 6 million doses of the shot within this month.
A total of 4.7 million doses of the vaccine have been delivered to the Public Health Ministry, to date, and the remaining will be provided this week, it added.
Earlier this month, several countries, including Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines, reported delays in receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in Thailand.
The country’s vaccination drive that relies heavily on the AstraZeneca shot also experienced delays.
To date, about 9.14 million people have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand, while about 2.6 million people have completed the full dosage.
AstraZeneca Thailand country president James Teague said he wants the vaccination rate to pick up across the country.
“We continue to work collaboratively with the Thai government, to achieve effective vaccination coverage across the country and region as quickly as possible,”
In October last year, AstraZeneca, the Public Health Ministry, Siam Cement Group and Siam Bioscience signed a letter of intent to mark their shared commitment to ensure broad and equitable access to the vaccine in Thailand and across the region.
AstraZeneca is supplying its Covid-19 vaccine globally at no profit during the pandemic. Over 600 million doses have already been released for supply to 168 countries. – Bernama, June 28, 2021
