AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing partner in Southeast Asia has missed a delivery target in Thailand and shipments to other countries in the region have been delayed, the latest setback for a shot that was meant to be the backbone of the global inoculation effort.
Thailand was slated to receive and administer 6 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses in June but health authorities this week said they would be distributing only about 3.5 million of those shots this month. Pledging to still give out 6 million doses as planned, officials appear to be making up the shortfall with millions of shots from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
Shipments of shots made by Siam Bioscience — AstraZeneca’s Bangkok-based partner, which has links to the Thai royal family — to Malaysia and the Philippines have also been delayed, though…
