James Teague, Country President, AstraZeneca (Thailand) Ltd., said: "The newly extended shelf-life of our vaccine is welcome news that will greatly benefit the national vaccination programme, ensuring that doses can be safely stored for longer before they are administered. As the third dose booster programme is further implemented, AstraZeneca will continue to support the government in providing vaccine doses to help protect against COVID-19."
Thai FDA's approval to extend the vaccine's shelf-life from six months to nine months is based on an extensive review of data and will help to support the national vaccination programme.
AstraZeneca and its global partners have released for supply over 2.8 billion doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca to more than 180 countries, and approximately two-thirds of these doses have been delivered to low- and lower-middle income countries.
The vaccine is estimated to have helped prevent 50 million COVID-19 cases, five million hospitalisations, and to have helped save more than one million lives.
COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca
COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant]), formerly AZD1222, was invented by the University of Oxford. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.
The vaccine has been granted a conditional marketing authorisation or emergency use in more than 90 countries. It also has Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization, which accelerates the pathway to access in up to 144 countries through the COVAX Facility.
For more information about COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, please visit https://www.azcovid-19.com/asia/th/th.html
Source: FleishmanHillard Thailand