UPDATE 2-Thailand delays AstraZeneca vaccination amid Europe safety reports

(Updates with background, expert quote)
By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK, March 12 (Reuters) - Thailand delayed the use of
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)'s COVID-19 vaccine scheduled to start on Friday with
its prime minister and cabinet members taking the first shots,
citing safety concerns after reports of blood clots in some
vaccinated people in Europe.
The Asian nation is the first country outside of Europe
suspending the use of the AstraZeneca AZN.L shot, while
several countries including Canada, Australia, the Philippines
and South Korea said they would go ahead. In a health ministry news conference, Prasit Watanapa, Dean
of the Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital, confirmed the
rollout would be delayed after a suspension of inoculations
using the vaccine in Denmark, Norway and Iceland. "AstraZeneca is still a good vaccine but with what has
happened ... the health ministry based on this advice would like
to postpone the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine momentarily,"
Kiattiphum Wongjit, permanent secretary for the Public Health
Ministry.
Thailand was in a position to suspend the rollout for safety
investigations because it had largely brought a second wave of
coronavirus under control through quarantines and border
controls, he said.
AstraZeneca said on Thursday it had found no evidence of an
increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis -
marked by the formation of blood clots - in safety data of more
than 10 million records, even when considering subgroups based
on age, gender, production batch or country of use.
More than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have so
far been administered across the United Kingdom.
Yong Poonvorawan, a Thai virology expert, told the news
conference the investigation would also check on whether any
issues might be related to particular batches in Europe and said
the vaccines supplied to Thailand were made in Asia.
Thailand has so far recorded just over 26,500 coronavirus
infections and 85 fatalities in a population of 66.5 million.
New cases are now registering below 100 per day.
"This may reflect how much the decision makers in a country
tolerate temporary uncertainty about vaccine safety and balance
that against the vaccine's undoubted benefits of protection from
COVID-19," said Julie Leask, a public health professor at the
University of Sydney, referring to varying government decisions.
Thailand's overall vaccination strategy is heavily reliant
on the AstraZeneca shot to be produced locally by a company
owned by the country's king, with 61 million doses reserved for
its population.
However, the Thai-produced AstraZeneca is not due until at
least June, and Thailand last week began limited inoculations
with 200,000 imported doses of Sinovac SVA.O vaccine from
China.
Thailand last week received 117,300 doses of imported
AstraZeneca vaccine, which the prime minister and his cabinet
had been scheduled to receive on Friday.
Austria said on Sunday it had stopped using a batch of
AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation
disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.
It later said the batch, ABV5300, amounted to roughly one
million doses in total and was sent to 17 European countries. It
is not immediately clear whether the same batch has been sent to
other countries.

(Writing by Kay Johnson. Editing by Ed Davies, Miyoung Kim and
Michael Perry)