Thailand clings to AstraZeneca vaccine after safety scares

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand will start using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday after a short delay over safety concerns, officials said, with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and cabinet members first in line for shots. to make.

Thailand was the first country outside of Europe on Friday to discontinue use of the AstraZeneca shot, on which the mass vaccination campaign relies heavily.

Authorities in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands have stopped using the vaccine due to blood clotting problems, while Indonesia has decided to delay a review by the World Health Organization.

Thailand has a lot to do with the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and the country will be one of its regional manufacturers from June. Thailand has reserved the first 61 million doses for its population.

Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said many countries had confirmed that there were no blood clot problems from the AstraZeneca injection.

“The prime minister had expressed his intention and was ready to get a vaccine to build people’s confidence,” Anutin said in a statement.

He said a panel of experts agreed it should be administered and that some medical professors would also receive it Tuesday to show their confidence in the vaccine.

AstraZeneca said Sunday it had reviewed data from more than 17 million vaccinated people in the United Kingdom and the European Union, who “showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia”.

Thailand has imported AstraZeneca vaccines in addition to 200,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac. Another 800,000 doses of CoronaVac were expected to arrive on March 20, followed by another million in April, health officials said.

Anutin said on Monday that Thailand hopes to get 5 million more doses of CoronaVac and is negotiating with other vaccine manufacturers who can supply before locally produced Astrazeneca shots are available.