Thailand turns to Chinese vaccine as AstraZeneca supply falls short

Public health officers bring coronavirus disease (Covid-19) swab testing to residents living in remote communities, amid the rise of coronavirus disease infections, in Samut Prakan, near Bangkok, Thailand, July 19, 2021. - Reuters

BANGKOK, July 19 (Bloomberg): Thailand plans to use more Chinese-made vaccines to fill the gap in supply from AstraZeneca Plc, with the country kicking off a world-first mixed dose regime amid an unprecedented flareup in its Covid outbreak.

Thai health officials began administering Astra vaccine on Monday as the second shot to recipients of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s first jab to boost the defense against the more contagious delta variant that’s seen driving daily caseload to as high as 20,000 by next month.

Under the revised vaccine regime, Thailand will use five million Sinovac shots per month, according to Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control.