THE Thai Foreign Ministry has halted the donation of 3 million doses of Moderna vaccine by Poland to Thammasat University Hospital pointing out that this is not a state-to-state donation and the original manufacturer too has to give consent, Thansettakij newspaper said today (Oct. 25)
This action was taken after Dr. Boon Wanasin, chairman of the board of directors of Thonburi HealthCare Group Plc (THG) revealed that the 3 million doses of Moderna vaccine being donated by Poland to Thammasat University Hospital will be delivered by the end of October.
However the Foreign Ministry urgently sent a letter signed by Mrs. Chulamanee Chartsuwan, director-general of the Department of Europe acting on behalf of ministry’s permanent secretary, to the rector of Thammasat University saying that the ministry was not informed of the donation through diplomatic channels which would have been more appropriate.
Thammasat University had been cooperating with Rzadowa Agencia Rezerw Strategicznych (RARS) in Poland over the donation of the vaccine by the Polish government.
The university had then requested the Foreign Ministry to assign the Royal Thai embassy in Warsaw to assist in facilitating the inspection of the vaccine and together with the Polish government agencies deliver the consignment to Thailand.
However the ministry in halting the shipment of the donated vaccine also pointed out that the university should consider discussing this issue with the Public Health Ministry’s Disease Control Department which is the agency directly responsible for bringing vaccines to Thailand as well as handles other related issues.
In addition, past donations of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines to the Thai government had obtained the consent of the manufacturers and the university should study these guidelines over the donation of this lot of Moderna vaccine, the ministry added.
Meanwhile the Public Health Ministry said this morning there were 8,675 coronavirus cases and 44 deaths over the past 24 hours taking the cumulative confirmed total since April 1 to 1,830,294.
Of the new batch of cases 7,931 emerged in surveillance and healthcare systems, 532 were found through proactive search in communities, 201 fell sick in prisons and detention centres while 11 foreign arrivals tested positive.
Another 9,589 patients were cured taking total recoveries since April to 1,712,890 while 100,042 are still undergoing treatment.
Today’s 44 fatalities takes the overall death toll to 18,799.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Boxes containing the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: EPA/Paul Sancya / Pool Dostawca and published by Polish Press Agency
Home Page: A bottle of coronavirus vaccine and syringe with Moderna logo on white background. Photo: Jernej Furman (CC BY 2.0)
