The first million doses of China’s state-owned Sinopharm vaccine, delivered to Thailand on Sunday, have passed quality control inspection by Thailand’s Medical Sciences Department and are ready to be administered starting Friday (June 25^th).

The qualities of the vaccine match to the data registered for emergency use with Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), while the temperature at which the vaccine must be stored is appropriate, said Department Director-General Dr. Supakit Sirilak today (Wednesday).

The Sinopharm vaccine, named Covilo, which was approved by the TFDA on May 28^th, is being procured by the Chulabhorn Royal Academy (CRA), as an “alternative vaccine” to the Thai government’s procurements. There are only two vaccine brands currently in use in the country, namely Sinovac, also from China, and AstraZeneca.

20 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are expected to be delivered in the last quarter of this year, as is the Moderna vaccine, which is to be purchased by private hospitals through the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO). 5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson are also expected later this year.

Millions more doses of the Sinopharm vaccine will be procured by the CRA in the coming months. The vaccine is reserved for public, private and civil organizations. Thousands of which have registered for the inoculation of millions of their members.