Thailand Locally made H1N1 vaccine almost ready

The Public Health Ministry plans to use the locally made vaccine against the A (H1N1) influenza next month.

Health deputy permanent secretary Siriwat Tiptaradol said on Sunday that the ministry had set up a committee to oversee the safety of the nasal-spray vaccine in accordance with the World Health Organisation's standard.

"The committee comprises three subcommittees responsible for conducting trials on humans, registering the vaccine and promoting its production," said Dr Siriwat.

Its members include experts from the WHO, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the Department of Medical Sciences and faculties of pharmaceutical sciences of different universities, he said.

The first lot of vaccines should be out in the beginning of August, and they will be tested on animals first.

"If the vaccine is ineffective or unreliable, it will definitely not be used on humans," he said.

He said the government had agreed to spend 600 million baht to import two million doses of a preventative vaccine from Sanofi Paster in France, and they should arrive in Thailand in December.