As the battle in Thailand continues to rage between the opposition, members of the public, and the government over Thailand’s Covid-19 vaccine acquisition program, the revelation that India offered to sell over 2 million doses of their AstraZeneca-licensed vaccine was rejected by the Thai government has raised questions about the current administration’s priorities.

India has pledged to give millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries over the next few weeks in a bid to push-back against China’s increasingly dominating presence within South and Southeast Asia.

Various members of the opposition have also questioned why the Thai government has dragged its feet on vaccine acquisition and why there are reports that the current administration is paying a premium for the vaccines they are looking to import.

According to local news reports and whistleblower statements from inside the government, Thailand is set to pay up to 60 per cent more per dose for both the SinoVac vaccine and the Astrazeneca vaccine drawing criticisms of corruption and embezzlement from the opposition parties.

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar launched a COVID-19 vaccination programme on Wednesday, with healthcare staff and volunteer medical workers the first to receive shots of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine donated by neighbouring India.
The Southeast Asian country managed to contain the number of COVID-19 cases early in the pandemic, but is now fighting a second wave, recording more than 138,000 cases and 3,082 deaths.

Last week, Myanmar received 1.5 million doses of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, amid a diplomatic drive by New Delhi to supply neighbouring countries just as regional rival China has also pledged vaccine consignments.

Thai Enquirer has learned this week that despite receiving an offer from the Indian government to supply Thailand with vaccines since mid-December, the government has not moved forward with any purchasing plan but chose instead to rely on Chinese-made and locally produced vaccines, delaying the country’s frontline workers access to protection.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with representatives from the Indian government twice, once in December and once again on January 23, a Saturday, to discuss the vaccines, according to Tanee Sangrat, the Director-General of the Department of Information.

Tanee denied an earlier Thai Enquirer report that said the MFA rejected the Indian government’s offer and said that the ministry expressed interest both times and referred the issue to relevant government organs

The Narendra Modi government has pledged to give or sell at-cost millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines to neighboring countries over the next few weeks in a gesture of goodwill.

Myanmar has already begun its inoculation program this week using vaccines from India with front-line workers receiving the first doses.

With both the Indian Government and the Thai Government confirming that contact had been made in December, had the Thai government followed through with interest after the initial meeting, it is likely that the first batch of vaccines from India would have arrived in Thailand before or at the same time as Myanmar’s

The Chinese-made SinoVacs Vaccine, which is partly owned by the Thai CP Group, will arrive in Thailand in February. It will need to pass FDA approval and will likely not be ready until mid-next month.