Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that each country has the right to register the COVID-19 vaccines which will be used by their people, without relying on a vaccine list approved by World Health Organization (WHO).
FDA Secretary-General Dr Paisarn Dunkum said COVID-19 vaccines, approved under the WHO Emergency Use Listing Procedure (WHO EUL), are for use under the Covax initiative. The procedure can also be used as a reference when considering COVID-19 vaccine registration in countries with an incomplete vaccine regulatory system.
He insisted this does not mean that vaccines which are not on the WHO’s list are substandard, saying vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson had all been registered in countries, including the UK, the US and some European countries, before they were approved for WHO EUL.
Dr Paisarn said that Thailand has a vaccine regulatory system approved by the WHO’s Prequalification Program and is a member of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme.
Therefore, the country was able to register COVID-19 vaccines by itself, adding that Thailand had registered AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine before it was approved for WHO EUL.
