02 Jun, 2021
PHUKET: Foreigners staying in Phuket will be able to register for a state-provided COVID-19 vaccination from tomorrow (June 2), with vaccinations of leftover Sinovac vaccine doses to be rolled out on Thursday and Friday (June 3-4), it was announced today.
The news was delivered by Pracha Asawathira, an academic with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (M-DES), who joined Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew for his ‘Governor meets the Media’ press conference at Provincial Hall this morning (June 1).
Mr Pracha in his position with M-DES is involved in the operation of the ‘Phuket Must Win’ web portal [www.?????????????.com] for registering in Phuket to receive a state-provided vaccination.
“The registration for foreigners staying in Phuket will open at 9am tomorrow, and about 30,000 foreigners registered in Phuket will be provided Sinovac vaccine injections on June 3 and 4,” Mr Pracha said.
“At this stage, 279,943 people have received their first injection while 98,795 have been fully vaccinated with two injections,” Mr Pracha continued.
“If we compare the numbers with our goal to vaccinate 466,587 people in Phuket, about 59.99% have received their first injection and 21.17% have been fully vaccinated,” he said.
“We also have about 17% of the total number of people registered to receive a vaccination who are still waiting to receive their first injection,” he added.
Mr Pracha said he expected the number of registrations to grow,
“If we receive the doses of vaccine and can manage them as we have planned, we will have about 80% of people vaccinated on the island [by July 1],” he said.
Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol, Director of Vachira Phuket Hospital, explained that following the latest round of vaccinations, from May 18-31, a total of 177,978 vaccination injections had been administered.
“We have 29,690 doses of Sinovac remaining from April, and we will provide those doses of vaccine to registered foreigners on June 3 and 4,” he said.
“Right now, there are 22,613 migrant workers [believed to be from neighbouring countries] and 5,758 foreigners [usually meaning Westerners] who have been registered, giving a total of 28,317 [foreigners] in total.
“To open and welcome vaccinated foreign tourists [from July 1], we – Phuket registered-people, people from other provinces, migrant workers and foreigners – need to step forward together,” Dr Chalermpong said.
“If a new cluster [of infections] occurs in Phuket, we will have problems and be unable to open on July 1. It is so important to provide vaccinations to every group of people and all areas in Phuket,” he said.
Meanwhile, Phuket Immigration Commander Col Thanet Sukchai explained that his officers have so far charged 3,491 foreigners for failure to comply with provincial orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Phuket.
“In May, we had to negotiate with four foreigners who refused to be tested and receive COVID-19 treatment until they agreed to be tested and go through the treatment,” he said.
Phuket Governor Narong noted that his office had coordinated with consuls, honorary consuls and embassy representatives from 25 countries to provide information and public relations to foreign tourists residing in Phuket to comply with the COVID-prevention regulations to jointly prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.
