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AstraZeneca on track to meet Southeast Asia vaccine orders
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rugmaker AstraZeneca said on Monday it was on schedule to meet its commitments for supplying coronavirus vaccines in Southeast Asia, after some initial delays in regional production and delivery.
AstraZeneca said Thailand, which is manufacturing its vaccine locally, will have received its agreed quota of 6 million doses within this month, while export to other Southeast Asian countries will start in early July.
In a statement AstraZeneca Thailand said partner Siam Bioscience, owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, will produce 180 million doses this year, just over a third for Thailand and two thirds for elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
It did not provide details of the status and volume of the orders for other countries. AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thailand's mass vaccination drive relies heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine and it experienced initial production delays that also affected Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Thailand has also used Sinovac Biotech's vaccine, with 10.5 million doses received so far and 37 million on order. Its Health Ministry on Monday said two doses of the Sinovac vaccine was shown to be 95 percent effective in reducing instances of mortality and severe symptoms, based on its real-world data study.
The study showed 71 percent to 91 percent efficacy in reducing infection against the Alpha variant first identified in Britain, which has been detected in 80 percent of Thailand's cases since April.
The ministry warned, however, that infections with the Delta variant first identified in India have increased significantly in the past week, up 30 percent in the outbreak epicenter Bangkok.
Thailand on Sunday announced new restrictions centered around its capital in a bid to tackle the country's worst coronavirus outbreak.
The new measures, which will be implemented for 30 days from Monday, include a ban on restaurant dine-ins in Bangkok, the capital, and five surrounding provinces, according to a document published in the country's royal gazette.
Shopping malls in Bangkok and the five provinces must be closed by 9 p.m., and parties or celebrations, or activities involving a gathering of more than 20 people will be banned for the same duration, the document said.
It also said construction sites in the six areas will be shut down and workers' camps will be sealed off to contain clusters. The order followed the emergence of more clusters in construction camps in the capital, which has 575 such sites housing about 81,000 workers.
Since May, 37 clusters have been found in Bangkok camps. Authorities will set up checkpoints in Bangkok and the five provinces to limit travel and relocation of construction workers, the document said, adding that there will also be checkpoints in the country's four southern provinces near Malaysia.
#BangkokLockdown was trending on Twitter in the early hours into Sunday, with internet users criticizing the timing of the announcement and saying they were taken by surprise by the new measures.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday he wanted to avoid the word lockdown and that specific businesses and activities would be targeted to contain the virus.
