Thai Prime Minister Receives COVID-19 Vaccination Using AstraZeneca Vaccine After Being Canceled Last Week

Thai PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha while receiving an injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine. (Twitter / @ ThaiPBSWorld)

JAKARTA - Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha became the first person in Thailand to receive a COVID-19 vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday, March 16 local time.

This vaccination was carried out amid news of the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccine use by a number of countries. In Thailand, the launch of its use was postponed due to security concerns.

Originally, Prayuth and other cabinet members were scheduled to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday last week. Thailand then suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, after reports of the vaccine causing blood clots, prompting a number of European countries to pause.

"Today I am boosting confidence for the general public", Prayuth told reporters at Government House, before he received the vaccine in his left arm.

"I am feeling fine after the injection", said the 67-year-old man after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday, the launch would resume after many countries said there were no blood clotting problems with the vaccine.

Prime Minister Prayut and his cabinet were injected with a portion of the 117.300 doses of imported AstraZeneca vaccine, which Thailand received for emergency use earlier this month.

To note, Thailand has launched a vaccination campaign last month, with the Sinovac vaccine made in China. Health workers were the first to receive the injection on February 28.

However, the country's overall vaccination strategy relies heavily on producing the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically. The AstraZeneca vaccine will be produced by a state-owned company, with 61 million doses reserved for the country's population.

The AstraZeneca vaccine produced in Thailand is not expected to be available until at least June, when Thailand plans to start a mass vaccination campaign.

Thailand is known to have imported a number of doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, in addition to 200 thousand Chinese Sinovac vaccines for medical and high-risk groups. The plan is for 800 thousand doses of the Sinovac vaccine to arrive in Thailand on March 20.