UPDATE: Health Minister says AstraZeneca jabs will start next week after slight delay

Covid-19 immunisations using the AstraZeneca vaccine will start next week, Thailand’s public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul wrote on a Facebook post with a photo of him holding a box of vials containing the vaccine. The update, without any explanation, comes just 3 days after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha cancelled his plans to get jabbed with the vaccine and the Thai government decided to delay the rollout of the vaccine due to concerns over a possible link to blood clots.

During this afternoon’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration daily briefing, spokesperson Natapanu Nopakun said the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and Thailand will move forward with its Covid-19 immunisation plan.

“The vaccination programme in Thailand should continue as planned as there is no known correlation between the blood clots and the said vaccines.”

A number of European countries suspended their vaccination programmes with the AstraZeneca vaccine due to some people developed blood clots after receiving the jab.

But the number of cases is small and an investigation into the reports is a “precautionary measure,” according to the European Medicines Agency. They say there have been 30 cases of “thromboembolic events” reported among the 5 million people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe.

A World Health Organisation spokesperson has also declared that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.

Along with announcing that the AstraZeneca vaccinations will start next week, Anutin wrote that 800,000 more doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine will arrive on March 20. Altogether, Thailand ordered 2 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine.