Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expects Thailand to start producing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus in the middle of next year.
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He said in his video clip posted on his Facebook page that a long-term solution to cope with COVID-19 was the acquisition of a vaccine and Thailand wanted to be among the countries that would have it soon so that it could revive its economy.
Therefore, in the past few months, Gen Prayut said, he decided to find partners with vaccine production potential that could ensure the local production of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Last month Thailand signed an agreement with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc. Under the agreement, Thailand will receive their vaccine technology for local production, he said.
On Nov 27, the government will sign another agreement with both organizations to purchase their vaccine. A few days ago, both parties reported their vaccine had the efficacy rate of 70-90%, “which is very good,” the prime minister said.
The vaccine could be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius and thus could be easily distributed throughout Thailand, he said.
“We expect that this vaccine should receive approval for its use and production mid next year. If we speed up procedures, we can soon welcome a lot of visitors to the country and the economy can be restored,” Gen Prayut said. (TNA)
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