Thailand’s health ministry instructs hospitals to extend Covid vaccine expiration dates

The Ministry of Public Health has ordered hospitals under its jurisdiction to change the expiry date of COVID-19 vaccines in their stock in accordance with new registration information from manufacturers.

According to Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, deputy permanent secretary for public health, the instructions were sent to all provincial heads of public health on April 7.

Under the new amendment, Thongchai said the expiration date of Sinovac doses will be extended from six to 12 months, while the expiration dates of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines will be extended from six to nine months.

The memo explained that when the three vaccine makers attempted to register with the Thai Food and Drug Administration, they registered their vaccines under the conditional approval guideline for emergency use of medical products from Thailand. the FDA on July 24, 2020, which limited the expiration time of medical products. only six months old.

However, manufacturers have re-registered their vaccines for non-emergency use, allowing them to extend the expiry dates of three types of vaccines.

Officials said the amendment also covers CoronaVac vaccines made by Sinovac Life Science and purchased from the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, Vaxzevria produced by AstraZeneca Thailand and Comirnaty from Pfizer Thailand. (NNT)