Thailand has become the fifth country to recognize the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Taiwan-based Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, a list released on Monday by the Thai government showed.
Other countries that accept the Medigen vaccine are New Zealand, Palau, Indonesia and Belize.
Medigen’s vaccine was added to the list of eight previously recognized vaccines that would enable travelers to enter Thailand under its new tourism sandbox plan, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Consular Affairs.
Photo: CNA
The other accepted COVID-19 vaccine brands are Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Sinopharm, Johnson & Johnson, Sputnik V and Covaxin.
Under the tourism sandbox plan that began yesterday, travelers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with one of the nine vaccine brands can stay in one of several designated locales, including Phuket, Phang-gna, Krabi, Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Pha-ngan, for seven days after arriving in the country.
They can then travel to other parts of Thailand after the seven-day period has ended.
The sandbox replaces Thailand’s Test & Go program, which was launched in November, but suspended a month later. That program enabled travelers from low-risk countries, including Taiwan, who tested negative for COVID-19 to avoid quarantine.
Medigen Vaccine Biologics yesterday said it appreciated the Thai government’s recognition of its vaccine, adding that its main focus is to gain emergency use authorization (EUA) from the WHO.
Medigen’s is the only domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine that has received an EUA from the Food and Drug Administration. Its rollout in Taiwan began on Aug. 23 last year. No other country has given Medigen full or emergency use authorization.
Medigen’s COVID-19 vaccine is undergoing a clinical trial in Paraguay and has also been chosen for the Solidarity Trial Vaccines platform, an international clinical trial platform colaunched by the WHO.
Its vaccine has passed the first hurdle in getting provisional approval for use in Australia after it was granted “provisional determination” status by the country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration in November.
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