Millions of vaccine doses promised by the U.S. government for refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have yet to arrive due to inaction by Bangkok, according to a report.
Three months after top American diplomat Anthony Blinken announced the deal to ship excess stock of Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine to conflict areas, the Thai government has not yet granted permission to the NGO set to distribute the medicine.
“There are stateless people and there are situations where people aren’t recognized. We have to have a humanitarian buffer,” Seth Berkley, CEO of global vaccine alliance GAVI, told Politico. “We want those vaccines to be made available in a way that allows them to be used quickly. That’s what we’ve been trying to work on.”
Distribution of the doses was to be managed by COVAX, an international system to direct COVID-19 vaccine resources.
Millions of US vaccine doses heading to Myanmar refugees in Thailand: report
November’s announcement came as thousands fled Myanmar’s deteriorating humanitarian situation as conflict spread following last year’s coup d’etat.
“We need to ensure that people who cannot be reached by government vaccination campaigns aren’t left out of our efforts,” Blinken told reporters on Nov. 10. “They need to be protected, too.”
Production issues and suspension osafety scare resulted in millions of unused doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. Though its vaccine is widely sought around the world, the company quietly mothballed production late last year.
