Moderna seeks to enter Thai vaccine market

Additionally, Indian firm Bharat Biotech has begun the process of submitting the required documentation for registration of its vaccine, senior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Surachoke Tangwiwat confirmed.

The Indian company’s vaccine has returned interim efficacy rates of 81% in late-stage clinical trials, it confirmed earlier this month.

As Thailand gears up for its mass vaccination drive, these vaccines would complement those already approved and being offered from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca. The FDA also confirmed yesterday that it expects to reach a decision on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine later this month.

So far approximately 36,000 of the 200,000 recently received doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac have been administered. An additional 800,000 doses are expected to arrive on March 25, to be used predominantly for high-risk groups and health workers.

There have been 117,300 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine received thus far, which Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and his cabinet will be inoculated with today.