BANGKOK (Xinhua) — Thailand’s Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul on Wednesday told the media that he had told the National Vaccines Committee (NVC) and the private sectors to quickly develop the specifications for the production of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The minister said an estimated 45 billion baht (1.39 billion U.S. dollars) for the vaccine research will be part of the 1.9 trillion baht (58.7 billion U.S. dollars) loan granted by the government.
The NVC said that candidate vaccines will have to go through mandatory trials, on animals and humans, to prove their safety, efficacy and ability to generate antibodies.
Anutin also said that during the vaccine research and trials, Thailand will cooperate with various other countries including China and the United States, which are also currently in the process of developing anti-COVID-19 vaccines.
Currently, the Thai Ministry of Public Health’s Department of Medical Sciences and the Department of Disease Control, the National Vaccine Institute, the Thai Red Cross Society, Mahidol University, Chulalongkorn University and many other private agencies are striving to speed up the process.
Anutin said that despite the flattening of Thailand’s COVID-19 curve, all Thais must not let their guards down, and must remain vigilant in observing safe-distancing.
The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration said that Thailand on Wednesday saw only 15 confirmed new COVID-19 cases and one fatality.
As of April 22, the total number of confirmed cases stood at 2,826 while 425 are under treatment, 2,352 have recovered and been discharged.
