Thailand in talks to buy COVID-19 vaccines from European countries

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is in talks with European countries to buy thousands and thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccines, a health official noted on Thursday, because the Southeast Asian nation tries to speed up its inoculation rollout to include a wave of infections.

Authorities in Thailand were scrambling to shore up vaccine components, despite the nation being the construction hub for AstraZeneca shots in the region. closing week, the govt observed it might borrow https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/brief-vaccines-thailand-seeks-borrow-bhutan-2021-08-16 one hundred fifty,000 AstraZeneca doses from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

"Some countries may additionally have a surplus of AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines and will be able to promote two to a few million doses each and every month," senior health legit Kiattiphum Wongrajit instructed a briefing.

Kiattiphum did not specify any European countries involved within the talks.

to this point, ab out 9% of Thailand's inhabitants of more than 66 million have been completely vaccinated as it deals with its deadliest outbreak of the coronavirus.

the vast majority of the country's 1.1 million infections and 10,314 fatalities came after April this yr because of the particularly-transmissible Alpha and Delta variations, though an infection prices have shown indications of easing.

"New circumstances have peaked and new infections will step by step lower," Kiattiphum mentioned.

On Monday, major Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha referred to AstraZeneca would bring https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-purchase-60-mln-doses-astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-2022-2021-08-23 61 million doses that have been previously delayed by the conclusion of this year.

Thailand's coronavirus taskforce will decide upon Friday even if to calm down lockdown measures, together with a concept to shorten a middle of the night curfew and enable dining in at eating places for th ose that are vaccinated or have been recently confirmed, he pointed out.

(Reporting through Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; enhancing through Ed Davies)