Thailand’s Prime Minister has cancelled the country’s vaccination drive that was due to kick off today. The delay of the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine is due to reports of blood clots despite there being no evidence of this.
The move comes after a number of countries including Norway and Denmark suspended the use of the jab. Around 5 million European countries have already received the AstraZeneca vaccine with about 30 cases having reported developing blood clots.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) however said that there was no indication the jab was causing the blood clots, adding that its benefits continue to outweigh its risks.
Speaking to the media, the advisor for the country’s Covid-19 vaccine committee, Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said, “Though the quality of AstraZeneca is good, some countries have asked for a delay.“
Public Health Officials have however clarified that the batch of AstraZeneca vaccines are different to those distributed in Europe. They added that the blood clot problems have not been commonly detected amongst Asians.
The first batch of 117,300 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Thailand on 24 Feb, together with 200,000 doses of China’s Coronavirus vaccine. More than 30,000 people in Thailand have already received Coronavac since the country kicked off its vaccination program on 28 February. Thailand says it will continue with its Coronavac rollout.