News analysis
Geopolitics, domestic sentiment shape region's Covid-19 vaccine race

BANGKOK - Thailand looked like it was ahead in the regional scramble for a coronavirus vaccine in October when it announced a local firm would manufacture the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for domestic use and distribution to nearby countries.
But with a locally-produced vaccine months away while local transmissions grew over the new year, Thailand sought to boost its initial reservation of 26 million doses. It ordered 35 million more, and supplemented that with two million doses of vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech. The first batches of British and Chinese-made vaccines are expected to arrive next month.
Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article.
Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month
- Latest headlines and exclusive stories
- In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content
- Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months*
*Terms and conditions apply.
Sign up for the ST Asian Insider newsletter to get exclusive insights into Asia from our network of overseas correspondents.