BANGKOK – A Thai private hospital was ordered on Sunday to stop releasing COVID-19 vaccines for sale in advance, as no vaccine has yet been approved in Thailand.
Vibhavadi Hospital told Reuters that its online offer of 1,000 initial reservations for the two-dose Modern vaccine had been the result of a misunderstanding. With reservations priced at 4,000 baht, the total cost of getting vaccinated would have been 10,000 baht ($ 330).
When the first governments began deploying vaccines around the world, questions were raised about how limited supplies would be prioritized and whether people would be able to pay to skip the queue.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement that the use of any COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand had not yet been approved and that the advertising of one violated hospital regulations.
“The withdrawal of the advertisement was ordered,” he said.
Chaisit Kupwiwat, director of Vibhavadi Hospital, told Reuters: “There was a misunderstanding and so we stopped the program … We had planned to order the vaccines, but now we have stopped.”
The hospital had requested reservations until January 31 to be vaccinated later in 2021.
Moderna did not immediately respond to a request for email comments about this sale.
Thailand has signed an advance agreement for the possible COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, but has not yet established deployment plans for any vaccine.
Moderna’s vaccine this month became the second to get emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine.
Moderna has said it will deliver approximately 20 million doses to the US government this year and is expected to deliver between 100 and 125 million worldwide worldwide in the first quarter of 2021.
In August, Moderna said it had a vaccine price between $ 32 and $ 37 per dose for smaller deals.
Thailand is a major hub for medical tourism, attracting patients from Asia, the Middle East and beyond.
(Additional report by Jiraporn Kuhakan; written by Matthew Tostevin; edited by Jason Neely)
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