BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2020) The vaccine against the COVID-19 infection developed in Thailand will be ready for mass use in the fourth quarter of 2021, the director of Thailand's National Vaccines Institute, Dr. Nakorn Premsri, said on Sunday.
"The vaccine will be ready for mass use only in the fourth quarter of 2021," Premsri said at a briefing.
According to him, animal studies of the vaccine have already shown excellent results, but for mass use it is necessary to fully complete the test cycle, including on human volunteers, and then produce enough doses to vaccinate at least one third of the Thai population, that is, 23 million doses.
Premsri explained that the duration of the vaccine testing process, both on animals and humans, is provided by the necessity to carefully check and fully verify the two main characteristics of the vaccine � its effectiveness and safety for humans.
"Thailand is one of eleven countries in the world where the process of creating a vaccine against coronavirus infection ... has advanced quite far. The leaders are now China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, they have already started testing vaccines on people," he added.
Taweesin Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the Thailand's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said on Friday that the vaccine against the COVID-19 infection developed in Thailand and currently being tested in the United States and Canada would be available in hospitals no earlier than 2021.
