After recent unconfirmed reports that Thailand had already acquired COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer were denied, The New York Times has removed Thailand from its infographic listing the countries acquiring the vaccines from the company.
Initially, Thailand was listed among countries that had acquired the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for “limited emergency use”, which was then rebuffed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a Clubhouse discussion, causing a widespread backlash in Thai online communities as to why they do not have access to the vaccine, if the information is true.
The New York Times cited a report from the Associated Press,published on April 1st, where it said that Thailand will reduce the quarantine period for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 with vaccines approved by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organisation and that Thailand has approved 7 types of vaccines, including Pfizer.
The approval mentioned in the AP report actually refers to international arrivals who have been vaccinated, not the approval of the acquisition or use of specific vaccines in the country.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Paisal Dunkhum has confirmed that Thailand has not acquired COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, while Pfizer Thailand’s representative confirmed that they have not imported their vaccine into the country.
Currently, three vaccines have been approved by the Thai FDA, namely AstraZeneca, CoronaVac (Sinovac) and Johnson & Johnson, while Moderna vaccines are still under consideration.
