A vaccine against the COVID-19 infection developed in Thailand and currently being tested in the United States and Canada will be available in hospitals no earlier than 2021, Taweesin Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said on Friday
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2020) A vaccine against the COVID-19 infection developed in Thailand and currently being tested in the United States and Canada will be available in hospitals no earlier than 2021, Taweesin Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said on Friday.
Earlier this week, media reported, citing Suvit Maesincee, the Thai minister of higher education, science, research and innovation, that a prototype vaccine against COVID-19 developed by Thailand's Chulalongkorn University and recently successfully tested on mice was being prepared for manufacturing in the United States and Canada ahead of human trials. According to Thailand's The Nation newspaper, the prototype vaccine will be tested on monkeys next week. After production facilities in the United States and Canada are created, scientists will begin human trials of the vaccine. Still, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha called media hype over the potential early availability of the vaccine premature.
"Yes, the vaccine has been developed by our scientists and successfully tested on animals. Its validity has been confirmed by researchers of the university in Pennsylvania in the United States. It is also true that jointly with the United States and Canada, a technology for its mass production is already being developed. However, there is still a long way to the mass production and use of the vaccine. The vaccine will not be ready for nationwide use until next year," the spokesman said.
According to the official, it may take up to two years to make a transition from successful experiments of the vaccine on animals to the mass production for vaccinating people.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Thailand, a total of 36,037 cases of the disease have been registered. As many as 2,910 patients have recovered and 81 remain in hospitals, according to the spokesman. The death toll from the disease stands at 56.
