Another batch of just over one million doses of Moderna’s bivalent Covid-19 vaccine from the French government was handed over to Thailand yesterday.
The handover was made by Thierry Mathou, the French ambassador to Thailand, to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in a ceremony at the Ministry of Public Health in Nonthaburi.
Also present for the occasion were Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, the permanent secretary for public health, Dr Thares Krasanairawiwong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, and other ministry executives.
Mr Anutin, on behalf of the Thai government, thanked the French government for its assistance.
The assistance signifies close cooperation and friendship between the two countries. The Ministry of Public Health will distribute the vaccine countrywide to boost people’s immunity further, Mr Anutin said.
With this new donation, France will have offered more than 4.2 million doses of vaccines to Thailand since March 2022, according to a statement from France embassy.
“This donation of ‘booster’ vaccines comes in a context in which the WHO reminds us that the pandemic is at a transition point and that we must remain vigilant,” it stated.
Equitable access to vaccines, which France considers a global public good, is essential to definitively emerge from the crisis caused by this pandemic. This is why France continues to make vaccine donations one of its priorities to help accelerate vaccination coverage on a global scale, it noted.
Since the start of the pandemic, France has donated more than 90 million vaccine doses, via the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) initiative, or via donations made within the framework of bilateral agreements, as in the case of donations to Thailand.