KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed Thailand’s version of AstraZeneca-Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use with immediate effect.
AstraZeneca Malaysia announced today that WHO authorised, under its emergency use listing (EUL), AstraZeneca vaccine doses produced by Thailand’s Siam Bioscience, recognising that the vaccine (brand name Vaxzevria) “is the same product wherever it is made”.
“The World Health Organization’s emergency listing of our vaccine is good news for people in Malaysia and worldwide,” AstraZeneca Malaysia country president Dr Sanjeev Panchal said in a statement.
“It will provide more assurance for governments to recognise the vaccine and allow people to travel again, reconnecting families, opening up economies, and supporting a return to normality.”
WHO previously authorised the South Korean and Indian versions of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, manufactured by SK Bioscience and the Serum Institute of India respectively.
The Malaysian government has directly procured AstraZeneca’s vaccine from Thailand, and also ordered shots from the United Nations-backed global COVAX Facility that has sent shipments of Vaxzevria and also the South Korean AstraZeneca version to Malaysia. Malaysia has also received contributions of AstraZeneca shots from Japan.
