BANGKOK (AP) – The Prime Minister of Thailand received an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca on Tuesday as much of Asia shook off concerns about reports of blood clots in some recipients in Europe, saying that there so far no couple the two.
Many countries that used the vaccine also said the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the potential risks, even as parts of Europe suspended it pending investigations into possible side effects.
AstraZeneca has developed a manufacturing base in Asia and the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, has been awarded a contract by the company to produce one billion doses of the vaccine for developing countries. This year hundreds of millions more will be produced in Australia, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
“There are those who are concerned,” said Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. “But we have to believe doctors, believe in our medical professionals.”
Thailand was the first country outside of Europe to temporarily stop the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Indonesia followed suit on Monday, saying it was waiting for a full report from the World Health Organization on possible side effects.
But Thai health authorities decided to go ahead with AstraZeneca, with Prayuth and members of his cabinet getting the first shots.
A large number of European countries – including Germany, France, Italy and Spain – suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday due to reports of dangerous blood clots in some recipients, although the company and international regulators say there is no evidence that it was the culprit. is.
The EU drug regulator called a meeting on Thursday to discuss experts’ findings on the AstraZeneca shot and to decide whether action should be taken.
Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region also said they would continue with vaccination programs.
In the Philippines, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said his country would not suspend use because the benefits outweighed the risks. The country has so far received 525,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the World Health Organization’s COVAX scheme and has administered 12,788 doses to date. Millions of additional doses have been ordered by the government and private companies.
“There is still no clear data showing that blood clotting was caused by AstraZeneca. If such data comes out, we may also stop using AstraZeneca, ”said Roque. “As of now, our experts are again saying that the benefits we get from using AstraZeneca outweigh the side effects of this vaccine.”
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said his country would not suspend vaccinations. Australia has vaccinated about 200,000 people to date and plans to import and manufacture 70 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca.
“The government clearly, unambiguously, absolutely supports the AstraZeneca rollout, clearly, unambiguously, absolutely. And the reason for this is very simple: it will help save and protect lives, based on medical advice, ”Hunt told Parliament.
Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly said there was no evidence to date that the vaccine causes blood clots.
“Blood clots do happen, they’re quite common in Australia,” he said. “But from my perspective, I don’t see a specific link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, and I’m not alone in that view.”
By far the largest user of the AstraZeneca vaccine is India.
India is using two vaccines – the AstraZeneca Injection made by Serum Institute of India, and another by Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech – to immunize its huge population. Of the more than 25.6 million people in India who have received at least one injection of a vaccine, more than 23.4 million have received the AstraZeneca injection, according to government data.
Health officials told the Press Trust of India news agency on Saturday that a total of 234 adverse events, including 71 deaths, had been reported after receiving either vaccine – but no causal link had been found. The government is now reviewing matters for a final assessment.
Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, has been contracted by AstraZeneca to produce a billion doses of vaccine for developing countries. According to government data, India had exported more than 48.1 million doses of vaccine by March 4, including 11.9 million doses to COVAX and 28.8 million doses to commercial exports.
Meanwhile, health activists and medical ethics experts in India have warned that Indian systems to monitor any harmful side effects are too lax.
With the exception of a few countries, such as Singapore and India, Asian countries have been quite slow in vaccinating their populations. Most countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, have been relatively successful in containing the spread of COVID-19.
Thailand has ordered just enough vaccine from AstraZeneca and China to cover about half of the population this year and has so far inoculated about 50,000 people in high-risk groups.
Associated Press journalists Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul in Bangkok, Jim Gomez in Manila, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Moussa Moussa in Sydney, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi, Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report