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Private hospitals in Thailand are targeting July as the earliest date in which the Moderna vaccines might be made available in Thailand, sources told Thai Enquirer on Thursday.
Moderna is the first vaccine that private hospitals will be allowed to bring in as an ‘alternative vaccine’ to the government’s vaccination plans.
The government has orders to import Pfizer, Sputnik, and Sinovacs vaccines to complement the locally produced AstraZeneca jabs.
However, government hurdles and backlogged orders are still preventing quick importation of the Moderna vaccines from the United States and other producing countries.
According to a source at Camillian Hospital, the vaccine still needs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and orders by private hospitals still need to be countersigned by the government.
However, according to the source, there is much more willingness on the part of the government to help private hospitals acquire the vaccines than several months prior.
“They are definitely more active in dialogue with us because we have been requesting their help since November last year and there was no movement,” the senior administrator told Thai Enquirer on condition of anonymity.
“I think they finally understand how dire the situation is and how much we all need to work together for the country.
Acccording to the source at Camillian and sources at the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services group, July is likely to be the earliest that the vaccine will arrive.
“The best case scenario is July,” the source said. “But in terms of widespread availability, it could be much later.”
Both Camillian and BDMS hospitals have opened reservation programs with a stated date of October “to test public appetite.”
