Thailand recorded just one new COVID-19 case, among quarantined returnees from abroad, and no new deaths today (Sunday).

The new patient is a Thai returning from Japan and in state quarantine.

Cumulative infections in Thailand, to date, are 3,217, with 3,088 recoveries.  The death toll remains 58.

Of all the infections, 1,783 have been in Bangkok and Nonthaburi province, 744 in the southern region, 484 in the central region and the rest in northeastern provinces.

Globally, there have been 12,842,036 cases and 567,649 deaths, with 7,478,180 recoveries. The United States still tops the ranking of number of infections, with 3,355,646 confirmed cases, followed by Brazil’s 1,840,812, India’s 850,358 and Russia’s 720,547. Thailand is ranked 100th.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr. Kiart Rakrungtham, director of the COVID-19 Vaccine Development Project of the Vaccine Research Centre, said today that vaccine trials on humans will be divided into three phases.

The first will be conducted on a group of 75 volunteers, aged between 18 and 60.  If the results are satisfactory, trials will be conducted on a second group of volunteers, aged between 61 and 80.  The first phase will take about two months to complete.

If the results of the first phase are satisfactory, the trials will move to the second phase. Between 500 and 1,000 volunteers will be needed for the trial, the results of which are expected to be available in the middle of 2021.

Dr. Kiart disclosed that there are now 18 candidate mRNA vaccines being developed in various countries, including Thailand, admitting that there are four mRNA candidates, the development of which is six months ahead of Thailand’s.

If one of these four is proven successful and approved by FDAs in the US and Europe, he said that he expects the Thai FDA would allow the trial of the Thai mRNA candidate vaccine to bypass the third phase of testing, which will shorten the time required for approval of the Thai vaccine by between 9 and 12 months.

Dr. Kiart said that, despite the development of the Thai vaccine, the Government must also be prepared to buy the vaccine from abroad.

He went on to say that the recruitment of volunteers will start only when the Thai FDA approves the safety of the candidate vaccine.