THERE were 2,101 coronavirus cases today (May 9), a drop from yesterday’s total of 2,419, with fatalities too inching down to 17 from 19 yesterday while the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Siam Bioscience Co has passed the quality tests in Europe and US, Thai Rath newspaper and Amarin TV said.
The new batch of cases took the cumulative confirmed total to 83,375 and of this 54,512 emerged in the third wave of infection that started early last month. The 17 fatalities raised the death toll to 399.
Another 2,186 patients have been cured, adding up to 53,605 who have been discharged from hospital, while 29,371 are undergoing treatment with 1,442 in serious condition and 396 using ventilators.
Meanwhile AstraZeneca said it will soon be delivering the first batch of its vaccine to Thailand, Thai Rath said.
The company has standards for the validation of the quality and safety of vaccines produced by its global network to ensure that vaccines made by all production sources are of high quality according to international standards.
Mr James Teak, president of AstraZeneca (Thailand) Co, said, “Over the past several weeks we have seen progress in the production of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Thailand.
“This started with Siam Bioscience factory being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a production facility for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Then a week later the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Siam BioScience passed the verification of quality standards in accordance with product requirements such as chemical composition and safety at the Department of Medical Sciences, Public Health Ministry.
“Today I have one more thing to inform you. Examples of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine produced by Siam BioScience have passed the quality examination criteria at our analytical laboratories in both Europe and the United States. This demonstrates our readiness to deliver the first batch of the vaccine against Covid-19 to the Thai government soon.”
In another development, the Private Hospital Association (PHA) has announced that Covid-19 vaccine shots, provided by private hospitals, will be charged at a standard price, including insurance for any side effects, NNT said.
PHA president Dr. Chalerm Harnpanich said the reason the price will be set the same nationwide is to get as many people as possible vaccinated, not to make a profit.
As for the manufacturers, the US-based Moderna is in the process of applying for registration with the FDA, after submitting its application on April 19th.
He said the PHA will gauge the demand for paid vaccinations and inform the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), which purchases the vaccine supplies from manufacturers. The private hospitals should not open vaccination bookings until they secure their supply, to avoid confusion.
Dr. Chalerm said, before the price can be determined, the cost of the vaccine must be known, adding that talks were also being held with insurance firms, and coverage would start right after the first of two doses are administered. The insurance would then be valid for 90 days and would not cost more than 100 baht.
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Top: AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: Thai Rath
Home Page: A Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: NNT
