Thai-made AstraZeneca vaccines on the way

 

The Drug Control Authority (DCA) has granted conditional registration for Thai-made Oxford/AstraZeneca (AstraZeneca) Covid-19 vaccines.

This will open another source for the vaccine which previously could only be obtained from Medimmune Pharma BV from the Netherlands.

Siam Bioscience Co Ltd has been licensed to produce the AstraZeneca. The company passed quality inspections in Thailand late last month.

In a statement today, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the local product registration holder AstraZeneca Sdn Bhd will have to provide additional data from time to time for the Health Ministry's evaluation.

"The Health Ministry will always improve public health levels in combatting the Covid-19 by procuring vaccine supplies which have been evaluated for quality, safety, and effectiveness by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and the DCA.

"The government is also committed to ensuring that the Malaysian adult population achieve herd immunity in line with the goals of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme," he said.

There is no word on when the Thai-made AstraZeneca vaccines will arrive in Malaysia.

However, Noor Hisham expressed confidence that the new vaccine source will speed up the immunisation programme.

As of yesterday, 51.9 percent out of 24.3 million adult Malaysians have registered for vaccination.

So far, nine percent of the adult population has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines. - Mkini