An empty hotel and beach which have opened for visitors is seen in Karon, Phuket Island, Thailand March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. REUTERS\/Jorge Silva\/File Photo<\/p>\n
Thailand expects to offer the Moderna (MRNA.O) vaccine to most of its population soon as it steps up the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, a health official said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The latest drive comes amid growing public criticism of the slow rollout of free vaccinations offered by the government, which stands at 1.73 million shots so far - less than 1% of its population.<\/p>\n
Health authorities have yet to start mass vaccinations even as the tourism-reliant country struggles with a third wave of infections.<\/p>\n
The government expects 61 million shots of AstraZeneca to be produced locally from June. But these vaccinations and those from Moderna will not be offered free.<\/p>\n
Moderna last month applied for vaccine registration in Thailand, which should be approved soon, said Withoon Danwiboon, head of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization.<\/p>\n
\"What we expect from Moderna is its commitment on how soon they will bring in their vaccine,\" he said.<\/p>\n
India's Bharat Biotech has started the application process for vaccine registration while China's Sinopharm has yet to apply, he said.<\/p>\n
Thailand has so far approved the vaccines of Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O), AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N). read more <\/p>\n
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand would try to secure more vaccines, on top of existing orders of about 65 million.<\/p>\n
\"Our current target is for 100 million doses of vaccines, but Thailand should have 150 million doses or more,\" he posted on his Facebook page on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Thailand's latest outbreak has been exacerbated by the highly transmissible UK coronavirus B.1.1.7 variant, leading to more than 52,000 infections and 288 fatalities in just over five weeks.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, 2,419 new coronavirus cases were reported, with 19 new deaths.<\/p>\n
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Thailand set to boost COVID-19 vaccinations, expects to approve Moderna shots - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An empty hotel and beach which have opened for visitors is seen in Karon, Phuket Island, Thailand March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. REUTERS\/Jorge Silva\/File Photo Thailand expects to offer the Moderna (MRNA.O) vaccine to most of its population soon as it steps up the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, a health official said on Saturday Continue reading