Thailand adds another Covid-19 vaccine to its arsenal, as the Food and Drug Administration has just approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use. . Sinopharm joins Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna to be officially approved for use in Thailand.
The Sinopharm vaccine had already been approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use, but still was required to be evaluated in Thailand for its safety and effectiveness. It is manufactured by the Beijing Institute of Biological Product Co.
While Sinopharm is now approved, documentation is still being prepared for submission to register the Covacxin vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. Moderna was the most recent to win approval on May 13, while Johnson & Johnson was approved on March 25, though no plans to import it have been made public yet. Sinovac was approved on February 22, and AstraZeneca was the first to receive approval on January 20, after confirmation that Thailand would manufacture it locally.