Thailand becomes latest country to delay AstraZeneca vaccine rollout over clot fears

AstraZeneca says there’s no evidence directly linking the vaccine to blood clots

Representative: A medic preparing a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against coronavirus disease (AFP via Getty Images)

Thailand has delayed the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine that was scheduled to start on Friday with the public vaccination of the prime minister and cabinet members, amid concerns about reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people.

Thailand joined the ranks of Denmark, Norway and Iceland who have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after about 30 cases of “thromboembolic events” or blood clots were reported out of the five million Europeans who received the vaccine.

“AstraZeneca is still a good vaccine but with what has happened ... the health ministry based on this advice would like to postpone the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine momentarily,” Kiattiphum Wongjit, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry of Thailand, said.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was due to start the vaccine drive by receiving the jab at 9 am.

The European Medicines Agency, however, sought to assuage apprehensions by saying that there was no indication that the vaccine was causing the blood clots.

The company also said on Thursday that it did not find any evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, marked by the formation of blood clots.

“An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country with Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca,” said the company in a statement.

“In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than what would be expected among the general population.”

Thailand, which has so far recorded over 26,500 coronavirus infection, received 117,300 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on 24 February along with 200,000 China’s Coronavac.

The country has recorded only 85 fatalities in a population of 66.5 million and more than 30,000 people have received the Coronavac jabs since it kicked off the vaccination drive on 28 February.

The southeast Asian country which aims to inoculate 50 per cent of its total population by the end of this year, has been under fire from the opposition who said that the vaccine procurement by the government was too slow.

Additional reporting from the wires