AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Thailand has been authorised under the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure, with immediate effect.
In February 2021, the WHO granted EUL to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, enabling global access during the pandemic. This EUL authorisation has been extended to now include doses manufactured by Siam Bioscience, AstraZeneca's production partner in Thailand, and recognises that COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca or Vaxzevria is the same product wherever it is made.
James Teague, Country President, AstraZeneca (Thailand) Ltd., said: "We welcome the World Health Organization's emergency listing because, even though many governments already consider people given our Thailand-made doses to be fully vaccinated and eligible for international travel, it will make it easier for more governments to recognise the vaccine and allow people to travel again."
Nualphan Lamsam, Honorary Director of Corporate Communications, Siam Bioscience Co., Ltd., said: "Siam Bioscience is proud to have been selected by AstraZeneca as its local manufacturing partner. We take great pride in producing high-quality COVID-19 vaccine, now recognised by the World Health Organization. All batches of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine produced at Siam Bioscience, undergo stringent quality testing and are also authorised by regulators and international laboratories in Europe and the U.S. Siam Bioscience and AstraZeneca continue to work closely and produce vaccine doses for the wellbeing of the Thai people and region, to help a quick return to normalcy."
All manufacturing of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca around the world is conducted using the same stringent manufacturing process and each batch passes over 60 quality tests as part of a robust global quality assurance process.
From the 585 million individuals who had received at least one dose of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca as of September 2021, COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca prevented over 105,000 deaths and over 620,000 hospitalisations worldwide.1
In clinical trials, COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca demonstrated 100% efficacy against severe disease and hospitalisation after two doses,2 and real-world evidence shows the vaccine is around 80 - 90% effective against severe disease due to WHO-identified variants of concern.3
To date, more than 1.5 billion doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have been released for supply to more than 170 countries globally, and approximately two-thirds of these doses have been delivered to low- and lower-middle income countries.
COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca
The COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant]), formerly AZD1222, was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech. 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.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visit astrazeneca.com and follow the Company on Twitter @AstraZeneca.
For more information about COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, please visit https://www.azcovid-19.com/asia/th/th.html.