* PM, cabinet to get first shots
* Thailand to produce AstraZeneca vaccine from June
* Thai immmunisation drive reliant on AstraZeneca
(Recasts, adds more quotes, plans to secure more vaccines)
By Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK, March 15 (Reuters) - Thailand will start using the
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday after a brief
delay over safety concerns, officials said, with Prime Minister
Prayuth Chan-ocha and cabinet members due to be first in line to
get shots.
Thailand was on Friday the first country outside of Europe
to suspend use of the AstraZeneca shot, on which its mass
vaccination campaign is heavily reliant.
Authorities in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the
Netherlands have halted their use of the vaccine over blood
clotting issues, while Indonesia has decided to hold off until a
World Health Organization review.
Thailand has much riding on the vaccine's safety and
efficacy and the country will from June be one of its regional
manufacturers. Thailand has reserved the first 61 million doses
for its population.
Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said many countries
had confirmed there were no blood clot issues from the
AstraZeneca shot.
"The prime minister had expressed his intention and that he
was ready to be given a vaccine to build confidence for the
people," Anutin said in a statement.
He said an expert panel had agreed it should be administered
and some senior medical professors would also receive it on
Tuesday to demonstrate their confidence in the vaccine.
AstraZeneca said on Sunday it had reviewed data from more
than 17 million people vaccinated in the United Kingdom and
European Union, which showed "no evidence of an increased risk
of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or
thrombocytopenia".
Thailand has imported AstraZeneca vaccines in addition to
200,000 doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac. A further 800,000
CoronaVac doses would arrive on March 20, followed by a million
more in April, health officials said.
Anutin on Monday said Thailand hopes to procure 5 million
more CoronaVac doses and is negotiating with other vaccine
manufacturers that can make deliveries before locally produced
Astrazeneca shots are available.
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Orathai Sriring; Writing
by Martin Petty; Editing by Ed Davies and Nick Macfie)