Thailand negotiating to buy 5-10 million doses of Pfizer vaccine: PM

[Bkk Brian]

38 minutes ago, shdmn said:

That's in the EU.  That is not what the Serum Institute is planning to do with Covishield, which is their brand name for AZ.  That is probably where a lot of Thailand's AZ will come from once the Indian gov't lifts their restrictions on exporting it.

 

https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/serum-institute-sell-covishield-vaccine-price-cost-private-market-adar-poonawalla-1755628-2021-01-04

 

I was reading an older article, you're correct, thanks. Things change quickly when profit is involved

[apetryxx]

This is appalling. As soon as I get my visa renewed, I’m flying to the U.S. where one can get their pick of vaccines. They are available at hospitals, neighborhood urgent care facilities and at nationwide drug stores such as CVS & Walgreens, often free of charge if you can’t afford it. The Thai government has dragged its feet on procurement of vaccines and spends all of its energy locking down all manner of businesses causing untold pain and suffering to millions of Thais and foreigners alike, and I don’t mean from Covid!

[John Drake]

13 hours ago, sirineou said:

Good news. As more and more Americans get vaccinated, very soon The Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J production will become available to the world. Good to be negotiating now so that they are at the front of the line. 

 

Maybe. But by July, those Americans and UKers who got vaccinated in December will be about ready for their first booster shot.

[placnx]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

Careful what you wish for, the so called "Pfizer vaccine" could come from Fosun. Of course the Chinese clinical trials would be so much better under the Biontech umbrella, more socially acceptable.

 

https://investors.biontech.de/news-releases/news-release-details/biontech-and-fosun-pharma-form-covid-19-vaccine-strategic

It's interesting to read that an equity investment in BioNTech, the Pfizer partner, by Fosun Pharma, a Chinese company is subject to approval by the Chinese gevernment. What about approval by Germany and the EU? This is sensitive technology transfer.

[pentagara]

7 hours ago, Stygge said:

Nobody realizes Pfizer vaccine is a crazy idea for Thailand?
It´s a mRNA vaccine. It takes handling even European countries have problems with. It requires freezing temperatures well below a normal freezer, even under transport. The smallest shake of the vaccine take away all effect. Personel has to get special training to handle this vaccine and evenso large parties of the vaccine has to be discarded because of slight mishandling.

There is a great risk people in Thailand is only getting a placebo injection with no active ingredients. To a very high price. This vaccine is expensive.

Astra Zeneca and Jansen vector vaccine is the way to go in developing countries.

 

If they actually end up purchasing the BioNTech vaccine, it anyway likely will mostly be sold by private hospitals. Hospitals can't purchase from Pfizer directly due to liability issues (Pfizer/other vaccine manufacturers won't sell...), so the government is needed inbetween.

 

As for mRNA not being viable due to temperature issues: If only private hospitals in major cities offer it, the cold chain challenge should be managable. For large scale distribution, it actually depends whether it's an issue, since it's not mRNA specific, but depends on the lipids as well. Curevac's and the ARCoV vaccine are both mRNA based and don't have the temperature issue to the degree of the current generations of BioNTech and Moderna. Both are planned to become available in the 2nd half of 2021. They probably could buy Curevac now in addition to Pfizer and get it at the same time as the Pfizer/BioNTech one. Curevac is expected to get approval in June in major markets. But then, the Oxford vaccine ("AstraZeneca") doesn't have the cold storage issue either, so it's actually a non-issue. For large scale distribution, the Oxford vaccine will be used in Thailand anyway.

 

As for vaccines for developing countries, for now it's Oxford/AstraZeneca, but it's actually not an ideal long term solution for multiple reasons. If it were the perfect solution, we'd see large scale distribution now, but alas we don't, and it's not because of the blood clots. As a result, hopes are actually on NDV-HXP-S.

[placnx]

2 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

Prayut has already said that  30 Million Vaccinate Citizens will be " Sufficient ": for Thailand

Filter already applied.

If this is the strategy, will we get a Thailand variant?

 

Unfortunately, the idea of vaccinating medical staff, old and vulnerable people, then letting the rest acquire natural immunity by infection, is very prevalent. Since it was popularized last Fall on Fox News, with interviews of Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard academics, this propaganda has pervaded the consciousness of a lot of influenceable people, like a virus that spreads under the radar.

[holy cow cm]

4 hours ago, Dene16 said:

when i went to get my flu jab, last year, for the first time, the nurse stated that in the future the covid vaccine will be Incorporated into it each year.

It has been stated already for annual CV-19 shots. But problem is there will be mutations that the standard CV-19 vaccine is ineffective on and you might just end up looking like you rolled over on a porcupine. 

[dallen52]

The doses are expected to be delivered between July and the end of the year, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.

 

 

So not really a sense of urgency then?

 

By the way, how are the submarines going?

[WingFat]

Pfizer and Moderna are Numero Uno and Dos (Einz und zwei), หนึ่งและสอง, etc, etc. best vaccines...or go ahead and try the ChineseCrap vaccine that can also act as an anti-freeze in your car radiator. 

[placnx]

1 hour ago, yogavnture said:

sinovac ceo admits the chinese vaccine is only 50% effective .  and his hail mary is to mix vaccines together and see what happens.  

It was the head of Chinese CDC who said that, so even more concerning.

[placnx]

1 hour ago, yogavnture said:

im confused on why they dont go for the moderna .  easier to transport.........around.  in the usa in smaller communitys moderna is more prevelant.  as phizer had to be kept super frozen.  only larger citys have that type of refrigeration.....................now we see the power big pharma has

Both Pfizer and Moderna have somewhat moderated their conditions regarding storage temperature, so these vaccines might not be a problem for distribution in major cities of Thailand.

[WingFat]

2 minutes ago, placnx said:

It was the head of Chinese CDC who said that, so even more concerning.

Anything Chinese is DOA. There is a good reason Chinese don't want to visit the USA; it's because they know how unwelcome they'll be. They can take their tourist $'s along with their Wuhan virus and shove them sideways. We just don't want or need them here.

[placnx]

34 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

Maybe. But by July, those Americans and UKers who got vaccinated in December will be about ready for their first booster shot.

So now we see that immunity is still good 6 months after vaccination. In another 3 months we will know how the vaccines are doing for 9 months. A work in progress. Anyway, old people will show signs faster for declining immunity, so not everybody will need a booster so soon.

[Robert Tyrrell]

Hmmmm with a population of almost

70 Million in Thailand  not including Expats and most of the Vaccines require 2 injections the Prime Minister says 61 Million Doses are enough ?????? Where did he go to School for Mathematics !!??? :) If never I encourage immediate Educational Assistance !! 55555 :) 

[clivebaxter]

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Well yes, the PM does know something that you obviously don't. Siam Bioscience is not only producing vaccines for Thailand, but also for the region. So importing from other sources is probably a necessity.

Exporting should only be done after they produce enough for the home population, and they have not started yet. Better planning would not necessitate trying to import at the last minute.

[bluesofa]

24 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

It has been stated already for annual CV-19 shots. But problem is there will be mutations that the standard CV-19 vaccine is ineffective on and you might just end up looking like you rolled over on a porcupine. 

'there will be mutations'   Surely they're the ones in the government already?

[holy cow cm]

1 minute ago, bluesofa said:

'there will be mutations'   Surely they're the ones in the government already?

Cling-ons?

[placnx]

1 minute ago, clivebaxter said:

Exporting should only be done after they produce enough for the home population, and they have not started yet. Better planning would not necessitate trying to import at the last minute.

Yes, just as India is doing, diverting all production for domestic use. Their private industry apparently didn't receive sufficient funding from the Indian government to build new production facilities. Unfortunately, this is even true in US and EU.

[bluesofa]

2 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

5 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

'there will be mutations'   Surely they're the ones in the government already?

Cling-ons?

...on the starboard bow, Jim.

[fleccer]

Thailand's policy of hospitalising all who test positive for COVID-19, even without symptoms

 

What?? So they would like to hospitalize anyone who tests positive for the swab even without symptoms, all based on totally unreliable tests.

[SteveB2]

Is it just me...

 

I am having problems imagining the Thai goverment's legendary logistics and organisational skills distributing 60 million vaccine doses before the end of this year 2021.

 

I mean... thats around 10 million jabs per month, even i they start in july ????

 

The only way it's going to happen is that they get Lazada to deliver and administrate the jabs...

[pentagara]

Yeah, that would be a miracle... From basically 0 vaccinations per month (or whatever in the four digits) to 10 million per month. Sounds like a challenge...

8 minutes ago, SteveB2 said:

Is it just me...

 

I am having problems imagining the Thai goverment's legendary logistics and organisational skills distributing 60 million vaccine doses before the end of this year 2021.

 

I mean... thats around 10 million jabs per month, even i they start in july ????

 

The only way it's going to happen is that they get Lazada to deliver and administrate the jabs...

 

[Dene16]

53 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

It has been stated already for annual CV-19 shots. But problem is there will be mutations that the standard CV-19 vaccine is ineffective on and you might just end up looking like you rolled over on a porcupine. 

I read some time ago that it would not be too difficult to tweak the vaccine to cater for the mutations, however, they didn't have the multitudes of mutations that we are now experiencing so you may well be correct

[pentagara]

24 minutes ago, fleccer said:

Thailand's policy of hospitalising all who test positive for COVID-19, even without symptoms

 

What?? So they would like to hospitalize anyone who tests positive for the swab even without symptoms, all based on totally unreliable tests.

No, it's not "would like to". They do. It's currently enforced practice and has been for months. It might be because they don't trust people behaving responsibly after a positive result, not sure. In a way, hospitalization is an expensive form of quarantine.

 

Irrespective, PCR tests are not unreliable, especially if you're tested more than once (as you typically are after a positive result). But that's a different story and has nothing to do with hospitalization practice.

[Moonlover]

23 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Exporting should only be done after they produce enough for the home population, and they have not started yet. Better planning would not necessitate trying to import at the last minute.

The letter of intent specified that Siam Bioscience will produce the vaccine for South East Asia, not just for Thailand. I doubt whether Thailand would be able to prevent exports to their neighbours.

 

COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing for Thailand and South East Asia

[placnx]

21 minutes ago, fleccer said:

Thailand's policy of hospitalising all who test positive for COVID-19, even without symptoms

 

What?? So they would like to hospitalize anyone who tests positive for the swab even without symptoms, all based on totally unreliable tests.

The thing about 'control' mentality is that it promotes evasion. Evasion, dissimulation, have been survival strategies in China since Emperor #1 some millennia ago, I believe. So social trust in China is limited. Here in Thailand that's still a developing phenomenon. Capricious edicts are not the answer. Let's hope that society (and government) comes to its senses soon.

[Moonlover]

2 minutes ago, pentagara said:

23 minutes ago, fleccer said:

Thailand's policy of hospitalising all who test positive for COVID-19, even without symptoms

 

What?? So they would like to hospitalize anyone who tests positive for the swab even without symptoms, all based on totally unreliable tests.

 

2 minutes ago, pentagara said:

No, it's not "would like to". They do. It's currently enforced practice and has been for months.

Not just for months. It's been the policy from the very early days and it's probably one the key features that enabled Thailand to quash the 1st wave so successfully.

 

Let us hope that it works for them again.

[malibukid]

where's the closest civilized country that one can fly to get vaccinated?  most of us will be gone before these idiots will get their act together.  HK? SGN? Tokyo?  otherwise it back to the U.S.

[pentagara]

1 minute ago, malibukid said:

where's the closest civilized country that one can fly to get vaccinated?  most of us will be gone before these idiots will get their act together.  HK? SGN? Tokyo?  otherwise it back to the U.S.

Depends where you have a residence permit or citizenship. You won't be able to get into any of these places otherwise.

[natway09]

Their reaction to buying & actually spending money to protect people has come 3 to 6 months too late. 

Now we can all just wait until there are some crumbs left over or until the local manufacturer becomes a bit pro active