Research-and-development teams behind domestic vaccine efforts need 3 billion baht each in government assistance to ensure jabs can be rolled out before April.
Dr Kiat Ruxrungtham, leader of a team at Chulalongkorn University, made the appeal for funds as he welcomed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to the university to inspect progress in vaccine development.
"Currently, there are four vaccines being developed in Thailand. But how can we get them registered before Songkran next year, or April 2022? If we want this, a fund of at least 3 billion baht should be set up for each vaccine," he said.
"Vaccine management also should bypass bureaucratic red tape including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Clear regulations must be in place by September so we can see what hurdles lie ahead," Dr Kiat said.
Without the FDA's regulations, the vaccines cannot be registered for use next year because manufacturing plants must ramp up production and orders must be placed for the vaccines beforehand, Dr Kiat said.
Gen Prayut said the government has followed progress in work on the Thai-made vaccines, which might be used as booster shots for Thais next year. He said he wanted the research teams to do their best.
If there are problems with the rollout of the main vaccines currently in use, the locally developed vaccines should be able to fill the void, said Gen Prayut.
Currently, the government has allocated 400 million baht for their development, he added.
Regarding the FDA's regulations, the issue must be discussed with the FDA, Gen Prayut said.
"It is impossible to bypass the [bureaucratic] system, but we must think of how to fast-track things. As for budgets, the government must be responsible for explaining the spending. Everything must follow regulations," Gen Prayut said.
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