Health

Covid-19 vaccine to be available next year at 620 baht per dose

Covid-19 vaccines will be available next year in Thailand at 620 baht per dose, but it will take two doses to protect a healthy individual against the virus.

Published

8 months ago

July 27, 2020

Headline Editor

The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) reckons Covid-19 vaccines will be available next year at the price of 620 baht per dose. It will take two doses to protect a healthy individual against the virus.

The first anti-COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available for use in humans next year said Dr. Siriroek Songsivilai, secretary-general of the National Vaccines Committee of the Ministry of Higher Education.

The estimated price is based on the 100 million doses, worth about two billion US dollars, ordered by the US government from the US’s Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech SE, which jointly developed the vaccines.

The NRCT believes there will be enough vaccines for a large group of people by mid-2021 but not enough for everyone until the production picks up but did not give a time frame as to when vaccines will be made available to all.

A dose of vaccine will cost 20 US dollars or around 620 baht and each person will need two doses.

Currently, there are 30 candidate vaccines being trialed in humans and scientists are optimistic that they will have workable vaccines in the near future.

Dr. Siriroek said that Thailand is using three approaches, namely developing its own vaccine, developing vaccines through transfer of technology and the purchase of vaccines from abroad.

Thai researchers have completed a trial of a potential COVID-19 vaccine with rats, to be followed by a trial in monkeys. The team coordinated with North American manufacturers to produce the first batch of the vaccine.

The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, said yesterday regarding the development of a potential vaccine against COVID-19 in Thailand, that the vaccine had passed its trial in rats, with the next step being a trial in monkeys.

The vaccine, developed by Thai researchers, is an MRNA vaccine designed to help the body create immunity against the new coronavirus. It could be available as early as next year, provided that all tests are successful. The Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, has ordered the development to progress urgently.

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AstraZeneca Approves Thailand’s Vaccine Factory

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March 18, 2021

National News Bureau of Thailand

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Health

Skin-lightening products market to reach US$31 billion by 2024

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Has Covid-19 prompted the Belt and Road Initiative to go green?

Published

1 month ago

March 3, 2021

Oxford Business Group

Has Covid-19 prompted the Belt and Road Initiative to go green?

– Covid-19 led to a slowdown in BRI projects
– Chinese overseas investment dropped off in 2020
– Government remains committed to the wide-ranging infrastructure programme
– Sustainability, health and digital to be the new cornerstones of the initiative

Following a year of coronavirus-related disruptions, China appears to be placing a greater focus on sustainable, digital and health-related projects in its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As OBG outlined in April last year, the onset of Covid-19 prompted questions about the future direction of the BRI.

Launched in 2013, the BRI is an ambitious international initiative that aims to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes through large-scale infrastructure development.

By the start of 2020 some 2951 BRI-linked projects – valued at a total of $3.9trn – were planned or under way across the world.

However, as borders closed and lockdowns were imposed, progress stalled on a number of major BRI infrastructure developments.

In June China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 30-40% of BRI projects had been affected by the virus, while a further 20% had been “seriously affected”. Restrictions on the flow of Chinese workers and construction supplies were cited as factors behind project suspensions or slowdowns in Pakistan, Cambodia and Indonesia, among other countries.