Health officials are aiming to prioritise distributing Covid-19 vaccine doses in Bangkok during the national drive next month to inoculate at least 70% of residents by July, says the Department of Disease Control (DDC).

As for other provinces, the distribution of vaccine doses will vary depending on the severity of infections in each area. Vaccine registration for people living in the provinces will open on June 14. People can register via local hospitals, mobile apps developed for each province and health volunteers.

The department held a teleconference with provincial public health officers to prepare for the government's mass vaccination drive starting on June 7, amid an uncertain date for the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccine doses.

Opas Karnkawinpong, DDC chief, said the department has adjusted its plan to allocate vaccine doses to each province from a monthly to a weekly basis.

 

 

Each province must set up its own plan on who should be inoculated first, Dr Opas said, adding the department has a quota of five million vaccine doses for Bangkok and one million doses for workers who belong to the Social Security Fund.

"We plan to provide the vaccine to at least 70% of people in Bangkok by July," he said. "If we can't control the situation in Bangkok, we can't control the outbreak in other places either."

He said the medical teams at vaccination sites will decide who will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine and Sinovac vaccine, noting that both vaccines can be used for people of all ages.

He said the department is still committed to having at least 70% of people receiving their first shot by September, as there will be about 50 million vaccine doses available before that month.

Dr Opas said the department is responsible for securing vaccine doses from AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. He said the amount would come close to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's target of 150 million doses.

Based on the government's vaccine management plan, AstraZeneca plans to send about 36 million doses from June to September. The rest is expected to come from Sinovac.

A source at the meeting said the department will provide 400,000 vaccine doses by next week to people who want their second shot. However, priority is expected to be given to teachers, correctional facility officers and industrial workers.

Authorities reported 34 new Covid-19 fatalities on Saturday and another 4,803 cases -- including 2,702 in prisons.

The nationwide death toll has now reached 988 and the number of cases since the start of the pandemic is 149,779.

The third coronavirus wave that began on April 1 has infected 120,916 people, 74,885 of whom have recovered, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Saturday.

Bangkok accounted for 21 of the 38 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours.

 

 

Bangkok Post