The researcher leading Thailand’s effort to provide a coronavirus vaccine says the aim is to make it cost-effective and available in Southeast Asia and play a job in stopping supply shortages around the globe.
The Thai government announced last week that it plans to have the vaccine ready for rollout next yr, after scientists at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok successfully conducted studies in mice.
“Our goal is just not to earn a living. It’s not an issue of cash, but of availability,” said Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of the university’s coronavirus vaccine development.
Tests of an experimental vaccine on monkeys began in Thailand on Saturday, one in every of at the very least 100 potential vaccines being developed around the globe.
The Kiat Group has partnered with scientists and biotechnology firms in North America and desires to mass produce the vaccine in Thailand at a more cost-effective price there and in nearby markets resembling Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.
With just over 3,000 cases and 57 deaths, Thailand has had some success in controlling the spread of the coronavirus and has begun to ease some restrictions.
Fewer than 10 cases were typically reported a day last month, compared with lots of of cases confirmed day by day in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“If the number of infections in our neighbors continues to be high, we will not survive so well in the long run,” Kiat added.
He said it was essential to not rely solely on large economies to develop and produce coronavirus vaccines, otherwise there might be supply bottlenecks.
“Let’s say there is evidence that it works. How can a manufacturing facility produce millions or billions of doses?” he said.
“That’s why a country like us, a small country, has to step up and then do its job as well.”
