On 21 April 2022, His Excellency Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health of Thailand along with Her Excellency Mrs. Suchitra Duria, the Ambassador of India, His Excellency Mr. Allan Mckinnon, the Ambassador of Australia, His Excellency Mr. Kazuya Nashida, the Ambassador of Japan and Mr. James Wayman, the Charge d’affaires a.i. of the United States Embass presided over the Handover Ceremony of 200,000 doses COVOVAX Vaccines from India under the QUAD Vaccine Partnership. Mr. Sake Nopthaisong, Deputy Director-General, the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs, was the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand at the ceremony.

The donation of the vaccines was the initiative of His Excellency the Prime Minister of India, who wanted to donate 500,000 doses of vaccines to countries in the Indo-Pacific region under the QUAD Vaccine Partnership. Prior to this, the Government of India donated oxygen concentrators and medicines to Thailand to help mitigate COVID-19, which reflects the close bonds of friendship between the two countries. The donation of the vaccines from India is also very timely, since this year Thailand and India celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the main focal point between
the Embassy of India in Thailand and the Department of Disease Control, the Ministry of Public Health in coordinating the donation of the COVOVAX vaccines to Thailand.