One million doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine will be delivered to Thailand next month, the Chulabhorn Royal Academy announced today (Friday), the same day on which Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) approved it for emergency use in the country.
The Sinopharm vaccine, also known as BBIBP-CorV, is another Chinese-made vaccine approved by the TFDA but, in this case, the manufacturer is owned by the Chinese state.
Thailand has received six million doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac so far, with three million more expected next month. Both Sinopharm and Sinovac are inactivated virus vaccines.
Chulabhorn Royal Academy recently announced its plans to procure alternative makes of COVID-19 vaccines, to supplement those being acquired by the government, without going through the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO).
“I’d like to reiterate that this is in parallel with the Public Health Ministry and the TFDA’s work, in distributing vaccines in Thailand in a timely manner, so Thai society can move on,” said Dr. Nithi Mahanonda, Secretary-General of the Chulabhorn Royal Academy.
The million doses to be imported will be the first of many more to be delivered, while the prices are currently under negotiation, with no profit to be made, he added.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul applauded the move, saying “today we can see that there will be alternative licensed vaccines, in this case from Biogenetech.”
