The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) abruptly submitted a draft purchase contract for the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to the Office of Attorney General (OAG) on Friday after the latter publicly stated it never received the contract.
In a statement, the OAG dismissed media reports saying the draft procurement contract for the Moderna vaccine was still under review by the office.
The statement came after GPO director Vitoon Danwiboon's June 23 comments saying the GPO would soon submit the draft to the OAG.
Some media outlets also reported that the vaccine purchase could not proceed because the OAG's examination process, which went on for several months, was not completed.
The OAG said no draft contract involving the Moderna vaccine had been submitted for examination, and the agency had so far examined the contracts for the procurement of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines only.
According to the OAG, the agency took only one day going through the Sinovac procurement contract submitted by the GPO and five days examining the AstraZeneca contract submitted by the National Vaccine Institute and the Department of Communicable Disease Control.
The OAG said it was aware of the need for urgency in the Covid-19 pandemic and gave the vaccination programme top priority.
Following the OAG's statement, Dr Vitoon said that the GPO submitted the draft contract to the OAG yesterday afternoon.
He said the GPO, the Department of Health Service Support, the Private Hospital Association of Thailand and the Zuellig Pharma company held a joint meeting on Thursday and the company confirmed the delivery date of the vaccine. Five million doses are expected to be shipped to Thailand in the fourth quarter of this year.
