No refunds over jab delivery

The Private Hospitals Association on Thursday said it has no refund policy for people who wish to cancel their Moderna vaccine preorders.

However, they can postpone their vaccine appointment or transfer their doses to other people, it said.

Netizens have expressed disappointment after news broke that the first batch of 1.9 million Moderna vaccine doses is delayed.

Some of them have called for the association to issue refunds over the setback, though judging by its reaction, they are out of luck.

The association previously said the first batch would arrive this month.

However, the delivery has been delayed, and it is now expecting to receive the batch next month.

Dr Chalerm Hanpanich, president of the association, which oversees the purchase and distribution of Moderna jabs, broke the news to the public on Thursday.

ZP Therapeutics, a division of Zuellig Pharma, the authorised distributor, said it will deliver 1.9 million Moderna doses next month.

The company said a batch of 6.8 million doses is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of next year.

Because of the delay on the vaccine distributor's side, the association does not know when the vaccine finally will be given to customers, Dr Chalerm said.

With the government preparing to administer booster shots, customers can choose to postpone their jabs or transfer their rights to someone else, he said.

"My customers of about 1 million people don't press for refunds," Dr Chalerm said. "We've made it clear that despite this setback the jabs can be transferred or postponed."

Meanwhile, Sunaiyana Kitkasetpaisan, general manager of ZP Therapeutics, on Thursday said the company has submitted documents to the Thai Food and Drug Administration to register the US-made vaccine to speed up the delivery process.

She said the delivery of the Moderna vaccine is the company's top priority.

The latest update indicated that the first batch will be delivered some time next month, with 100,000–300,000 doses likely to be delivered every following week.

Ms Sunaiyana said the company is likely to be notified a week or two before the delivery is made.