The Thai government has never been approached by a real estate company, which is claiming to have offered about 20 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine for sale to Thailand, Government Spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said today (Friday).

He said that the real estate company, Accap Assets, is unqualified to import pharmaceutical products, because it has not received an import license from Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA).

He also said that further checks on the company’s profile, with the Department of Business Development of the Ministry of Commerce, shows that the Accap Assets Company was registered to engage only in the sale and purchase of real estate, not trade in pharmaceutical products, adding that authorities are investigating the financial structure of the firm.

He said that any company, which wants to import COVID-19vaccines into Thailand, can contact the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) directly, without the need to approach Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha or any of the deputy prime ministers.

It is reported that Accap Assets, which claims to be associated with Tellus Agrotech Pte., the sole distributor of Sinopharm vaccine in the Asian region, wrote a letter to Professor Dr. Nithi Mahanonda, secretary-general of Chulabhorn Royal Academy (CRA), claiming that it had been allocated 20 million doses of the vaccine and could have them shipped to Thailand within two weeks.

According to the same report, the real estate firm said it offeredto sell the vaccine to the government about a month ago and has still been unable to meet with the prime minister or Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to present them with all the necessary documents related to the vaccine for consideration.

In his Facebook post today, Dr. Nithi said he has not yet received the letter from Accap Assets, although it has gone viral on social media, adding, however, that he will not meet with any representative of the company, as there are more than 10 groups offering to sell COVID-19 vaccines to Thailand.

He explained that any company or group, who claim to represent vaccine producers, must have relevant documents from the manufacturers, to be shown to the TFDA for approval, beforepermission can be granted to import the vaccines.

He said that, under the current emergency situation, all vaccine manufacturers will deal with governments or authorized representatives of governments only, not with private firms.

After a deal is done between the government or authorized representative and the vaccine manufacturer, a logisticscompany will be assigned to transport and store the vaccines.

Dr. Nithi insisted that the Chulabhorn Royal Academy is required to follow the law, as he asked critics not to seize this opportunity to attack the academy “because the people are already suffering enough.”