BANGKOK: Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Wednesday reassured the delivery of Sinovac vaccines from China to Thailand, beginning next week.

On the second day of a debate at parliament, Anutin Charnvirakul said to legislators that the first shipment of the Chinese vaccines against Covid-19 is scheduled to arrive in Thailand on February 24, followed by a second batch next month and the third batch in April, Xinhua reported.

The Deputy Prime Minister also confirmed that the AstraZeneca developed vaccines, manufactured in Thailand by Siam Bioscience Co., will be available for use from late May or early June.

Anutin said the AstraZeneca vaccines will also be manufactured by Siam Bioscience for delivery to other countries, especially the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Thailand reported more than 143 new coronavirus infections last day and in quarantine detected its first case of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant first found in South Africa, its coronavirus taskforce said.

A World Health Organization (WHO) panel last week said that AstraZeneca's vaccine should be deployed widely, however, including in countries where the South African variant may reduce its efficacy.

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