(Recasts with vaccine strategy)
BANGKOK, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Thailand’s plan to produce the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine locally is on track to be ready to begin mass inoculations in June, with a capacity to make up to 18 million doses per month, a senior official said on Friday.
It was still unclear how many would go to Thai citizens and how many would be exported to other Southeast Asian countries under a deal with AstraZeneca that has come under fire from opposition critics for being too slow and lacking transparency.
Thailand’s vaccine strategy revolves around production of AstraZeneca shots by local firm Siam Bioscience, owned by the Thai king’s vast business holdings.
Tests of the first batches are due to be completed by the end of May, the head of the National Vaccine Institute, Nakorn Premsri, told Reuters in an interview.
“The industrial batch will come out by June,”…
