Thai PM Prayuth Helps Boost Public Confidence On AstraZeneca Vaccine

By Linda Khoo Hui Li BANGKOK, March 16 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan o-cha and 15 members of his cabinet today received the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, helping to boost public confidence in the vaccine despite the growing number of countries suspending its use. “I am boosting public confidence… The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe,” he said to the awaiting media before receiving the jab at the Government House, prior to a cabinet meeting, today. Prayuth also said there was no proof that the vaccine could cause blood clots as reported, and therefore Thailand would start inoculation using the vaccine. Virology expert from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan administered the vaccine on Prayuth. Meanwhile, Dr Yong assured that the two COVID-19 vaccines available in Thailand – Oxford-AstraZeneca and China’s Sinovac – were safe. “Vaccine may not provide 100 per cent protection but it could reduce the severity of infections and save lives,” he said. Last Friday, Thailand became the first country outside Europe to delay the Oxford-AstraZeneca roll-out following a suspension of inoculations using the vaccine in some European countries including Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, over post-jab blood clot issues. Subsequently, more countries have suspended the use of the vaccine due to the problem. Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there is no evidence that Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots. WHO has urged nations to continue using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Thailand has started vaccination drive using Sinovac vaccine on frontline health workers and high-risk groups on February 28. Thailand’s mass vaccination plan will kick-off when the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is produced by local firm Siam Bioscience Co Ltd in June. Thailand has imported 117,000 doses of the vaccine. It has also imported 200,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine, with additional 800,000 doses of the vaccine scheduled to arrive later this month and further one million doses in April. Thailand aims to vaccinate 50 per cent of its population by year-end. -- BERNAMA