Thai Prime Minister Receives First Dose of AstraZeneca Vaccine

Billions of people will receive AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. (Wikimedia Commons)

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 16. The country’s rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been temporarily halted on March 12 due to safety concerns. However, Thailand’s health ministry resumed the process on March 15.

“Today I’m boosting confidence for the general public,” Prayuth said before receiving his first shot.

Thailand’s temporary halt of the vaccine distribution process followed recent suspensions by numerous European countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. The European Union has raised concerns about several reported cases of blood clots following the administering of the AstraZeneca vaccine. AstraZeneca released a statement stressing that there is no evidence their shot caused the cases of blood clotting.

“A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people [vaccinated in the EU and UK] has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country,” the company said.

In their statement, AstraZeneca also noted that of the 17 million European recipients of their vaccine, only 15 developed blood clots in vein blood vessels (DVT), and only 22 experienced clots in pulmonary arteries. Both these figures are lower than the expected amount that naturally occurs in a given population.

While the European Medicine Agency called for an investigation into these cases, many Asian countries, such as Thailand, India, and the Philippines, have followed the assessment from the WHO that the benefits of AstraZeneca’s vaccine far outweigh any potential risks.

After the health ministry resumed Thailand’s rollout, Prayuth and his Cabinet were vaccinated using an emergency supply of about 117,300 doses purchased by the state.

“There are people who have concerns, but we must believe doctors, believe in our medical professionals,” Prayuth said.

Asia is an important center for AstraZeneca’s vaccine production. The company has contracted the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, to produce 1 billion doses for distribution in developing countries. Thailand will also play an important role in this distribution effort, as the country is expected to produce hundreds of millions of doses by the end of the year.

While 61 million doses of the Thai AstraZeneca vaccine will be reserved for inoculations within the country, the shot is not expected to be distributed until July, when Thailand’s mass vaccination campaign will begin. In addition to the Thai-produced vaccine, the country plans to import a total of 2 million doses of the Sinovac Coronavac shot by the end of April.