Another lot of a million doses of Sinovac vaccine from China arrived in Bangkok today and is now being examined by the Thai Medical Sciences Department for certification.

Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrachit said today that, once the vaccines are approved, they will be quickly distributed to various provinces and Bangkok.

The Medical Sciences Department will start examining the vaccines at 6pm today and expects to complete the task in one or two days, as the batch must be accompanied with its production protocol summary and lot release documentation.

After this batch, Dr. Kiattiphum admitted that it is not yet known when the next lot will arrive, saying that the Chinese supplier normally gives short notice before the arrival of its vaccine in Thailand.

As for the next batch of locally-produced AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, from Thai pharmaceutical firm Siam Bioscience, Dr. Kiattiphum said he has been informed, by the Disease Control Department, that it will be delivered two days later than the June 14th schedule, for reasons yet to be explained.

He assured, however, that the six million doses of AZ vaccine, promised for delivery in June by AstraZeneca Thailand, remains on track.