The United Kingdom will donate 415,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Thailand, which are expected to arrive in the next 1-2 weeks, according to the British Embassy in Thailand yesterday (Wednesday).

According to UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, the UK will start delivering 9 millionAstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced in the UK around the world this week, to help countries tackle the pandemic.

Five million of them are being offered to the COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) scheme, to ensure equitable, global access to COVID-19 vaccines. Another 4 million doses will be shared directly with countries in need. Thailand is not yet part of the COVAX global initiative.

Saying the purpose of the donations is to “save lives”, British Ambassador-designate to Thailand, Mark Gooding, said in a video posted on the embassy’s social media, that the donated vaccines “will be given to the most vulnerable within the Thai national vaccine programme”.

The 9-million-dose batches are the first of the 100 million doses of vaccine the UK has pledged to provide around the world. “We know we won’t be safe until everyone is safe,” said Mr. Raab.

Meanwhile, Bangkok-born US Senator Tammy Duckworth revealed on Tuesday that the US government plans to provide 2.5 million doses of vaccine to Thailand.

The Thai-American lawmaker told a webinar on Thai-US relations that, as part of the Biden Administration’s pledge to provide vaccines to developing countries, Thailand will receive 2.5 million.

The United States is sending 1.54 million doses of Pfizer to Thailand, scheduled to arrive in Bangkok tomorrow morning (July 30th).

Japan has already donated 1.05 million doses of AstraZeneca to Thailand, to help meet the high demand for vaccines due to the increase in infections over the past few months.