One Billion Baht Allocated for COVID-19 Vaccine Production in Thailand
The Cabinet on 25 August 2020 approved a budget of one billion baht for the National Vaccine Institute in order to increase Thailand’s potential for COVID-19 vaccine production, following a proposal by the Ministry of Public Health.
The National Vaccine Institute has been working with several agencies in Thailand in promoting the production of a COVID-19 vaccine. It has also cooperated with foreign countries for the transfer of production technology.
The one-billion-baht fund will be used to support a project for COVID-19 vaccine research and development, so that Thai people will have access to the vaccine as soon as possible. The project will be carried out from August 2020 to November 2021.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Medical Sciences have been assigned to support this project to ensure the safety of the vaccine.
A portion of the fund will be allocated to the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, for use to develop the vaccine. Thailand is also preparing to acquire COVID-19 vaccines from overseas.
It is expected that Thailand will be able to produce its own COVID-19 vaccine by 2021, with a combined production capacity of 200 million doses a year, which is sufficient for domestic use.
