RAYONG, August 25 (TNA) – The Thai government is allocating 600 million baht for its plan to purchase and jointly produce COVID-19 vaccine, says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul.
Anutin told reporters at a mobile cabinet meeting in Rayong on Tuesday that the budget plan had been forwarded and would be approved by the Cabinet of ministers soon.
The Public Health Minister said Thailand looked to purchase Covid-19 vaccine currently being developed by University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Thai public health officials have said the trials look promising and production is expected to start before the end of the year.
Thailand has also sought to join the trial of COVID-19 vaccine developed by University of Oxford.
Anutin said Thailand was sending a letter of request to University of Oxford in the hope for reaching an agreement that allowed local production of the vaccine. Thailand also has its own vaccine research programmes which are expected to complete in the middle of next year. A vaccine being developed at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University is probably the most promising one as it has been successfully tested on primates. (TNA)
