Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will get the first shot of Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca on Sunday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will receive the vaccine from Sinovac.
Mr Anutin on Thursday said of the 317,600 doses of vaccines from the two companies on Wednesday, "The vaccines are for Thais and those living in the country,'' Mr Anutin said, adding the first batch of vaccines are free of charge with the government paying for them and other management costs. "Anyone who charges for the vaccine will face legal action," the minister said.
The delivery of 117,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine came as a surprise since there had been no mention before of that make being imported. The delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine was a back-up plan in case the other company failed to come through, Mr Anutin said. Another 800,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will arrive from China next month and 1 million more in April, he said.
The balance of vaccines for Thais in 2021 will be AstraZeneca's, made locally by Siam Bioscience, with 26 million doses to be available from May to June and a further 35 million doses afterwards, he said.
.png?w=600)
