AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot has come under fire from investors for failing to defend its coronavirus vaccine amid questions about its safety.

Investors said that the Frenchman, who has been in Australia visiting his wife and children since Christmas, had not adequately communicated the benefits of AstraZeneca’s vaccine following fears it could be linked to rare brain clots.

AstraZeneca suffered a setback to the global rollout of its vaccine on Wednesday when the British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warned over the possible link between the jab and brain blood clots in a small number of patients. A number of European countries suspended its use due to the concerns.

Australia’s medical experts decided after a lenghty meeting on Thursday that Pfizer is now the preferred vaccine for people aged under 50 because of the rare but serious blood clotting side effect linked to the AstraZeneca jab.

Ketan Patel, a fund manager at EdenTree Investment Management, which has a stake in AstraZeneca, said Mr Soriot’s absence from the pharma giant’s headquarters in the UK “did not give the right signal or message”.

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“If we were grading the PR effort, they could do better,” Mr Patel said.

“If you look at the data, and see that the chances of getting a blood clot with this vaccine is about four in one million, compared to four in 10,000 for the contraceptive pill, that perspective needs to be highlighted.

“Perhaps it is right to say, where is the chief executive in terms of articulating the healthcare benefits? He hasn’t been that public and being halfway around the world doesn’t give the right signal or message.