Thailand suspends vaccine rollout as Biden eyes Independence Day

Thailand on March 12 joined several European nations in suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears, despite a range of health authorities around the world insisting it was safe.

The move came just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden offered Covid-weary Americans hope of a return to some kind of normality by July 4, marking the national holiday as his target for "independence" from the virus.

After a shaky start, the US has ramped up its vaccination programme, following the advice of scientists who say jabs are the only way out of a pandemic that has killed 2.6 million people around the world.

But global hopes received a blow Thursday when Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Italy and Romania postponed or limited the rollout of their quota of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots.
Thailand followed suit on Friday.

Health regulators stressed there was no evidence of any link, but they were acting out of an abundance of caution.
Australia, Mexico and the Philippines said they would continue their rollouts as they had found no reason to alter course. Canada said there was no evidence the jab causes adverse reactions.

Thailand's decision led to the embarrassing spectacle of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha abruptly canceling his own televised jab.

"Vaccine injection for Thais must be safe, we do not have to be in a hurry," said Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, an adviser for the country's Covid-19 vaccine committee.

In the US, Biden laid out the path for escape from the darkest days of the pandemic in the world's worst-hit country.
"This fight is far from over," Biden said in his first televised primetime address as president, delivering an emotional...