Coronavirus: Asia speeds up AstraZeneca vaccine roll-out even as trust sinks in Europe; second wave grips India

Many Asian countries, including Australia, South Korea and Thailand, heavily rely on the AstraZeneca jab to end the pandemic

Some hospitals in India’s Maharashtra state have begun to run short of beds, while New Zealand delayed a travel bubble with Australia

6-MIN READ6-MIN

Health workers administer doses of a Covid-19 vaccine in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:55pm, 22 Mar 2021Updated: 12:15pm, 23 Mar 2021

Many Asian countries are accelerating the roll-out of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after confidence in its safety was hit, following reports that the shot was linked to rare blood clots in Europe earlier this month.

After briefly halting its use, many European countries have resumed using the shot in their inoculation programmes after a regional regulator said it was safe, while several country leaders are also taking the vaccine to boost confidence.

The AstraZeneca shot was among the first and cheapest of the Covid-19 vaccines to be developed and launched at volume and is set to be the mainstay of vaccination programmes in much of the developing world.

But its brief suspension raised concerns that a slowdown in vaccination roll-outs could hurt the global fight against the pandemic, as coronavirus cases surge in some countries, overwhelming health care systems and hurting economies.

“I have just finished getting the [AstraZeneca] injection, there is no pain at the injection site, and there is no soreness of the body,” Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters as the island launched its inoculation campaign on Monday.

Thailand’s prime minister also became the first person in the country to be inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine after its roll-out was temporarily put on hold over safety concerns, while Indonesia began using it on Monday after suspending it last week. But Indonesia’s Food and Drug agency has warned against its use on people with blood clotting disorders.