Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha canceled plans to publicly get the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday due to reports that people in Denmark and Austria had experienced blood clot side effects after receiving it.
Thai authorities have delayed the vaccine rollout while they consider the issue, said Dr. Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, a senior member of Thailand’s vaccine committee, in a news conference on Friday.
“The only purpose of our vaccination is the people’s safety. When there is an adverse event, we don’t need to be in rush,” Piyasakol said.
Officials said they would wait for the results of investigations in Denmark and by relevant health organizations in Europe before making further decisions.
Thailand received 117,300 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from overseas, government officials said earlier this month. The country was also planning on domestically producing 61 million doses of the vaccine through the Siam Bioscience pharmaceutical company.