By Chayut Setboonsarng
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Two private hospitals in Thailand ordered millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines before regulatory approval, increasing government vaccine orders as the Southeast Asian country faces a second wave of the virus.
“We ordered one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine with the option to buy another nine million,” Boon Vanasin, president of Thonburi Healthcare Group Pcl, told Reuters.
Of the initial one million doses, he plans to use about half to inoculate employees in his network of 40 hospitals and employees in his other businesses, once he receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand.
The Thai government has ordered two million doses of Sinovac Biotech from China separately and expects to deliver 200,000 doses with plans to inoculate frontline workers and medical professionals in high-risk areas next month.
The government has also ordered 61 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be produced by the local company Siam Bioscience for domestic use and export.
“We can’t just wait for the government,” said Boon, adding that it was unclear how many doses of the government’s vaccine stock would reach private hospital employees.
For patients, Thonburi’s medical centers plan to offer two injections of vaccine for 3,200 baht ($ 106.28).
“We cannot profit here because it is a humanitarian issue for the country,” he said.
For most of last year, Thailand kept the number of coronavirus cases low, but a second outbreak in December brought confirmed infections to 12,423 with 70 deaths.
Another private hospital, Vibhavadi Medical Center Pcl, has ordered 10,000 doses of the Modern vaccine, managing director Chaisit Kupwiwat told Reuters.
So far, Thailand’s FDA has received applications for registration for the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
Thailand is expected to approve one of the vaccines this week for emergency use, Opas Karnkawinpong, director general of the Department of Disease Control, said in an interview without giving details.
Last week, the FDA said it was processing AstraZeneca’s order, which it hoped to approve soon.
($ 1 = 30,1100 baht)
(Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Orathai Sriring and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Ed Davies)