Members of the public who are interested in getting inoculated against Covid-19 will be able to register in early May, ahead of Thailand's vaccination drive which is set to begin later in June, the government said.

Registrations will be done on the Mor Prom ("Doctors Ready") app, a new platform that was specifically designed to facilitate the government's vaccination programme, said Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha yesterday.

According to the deputy minister, a large batch of Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca is due to arrive in June, which will enable the government to cover a greater subset of the population.

"The timing isn't that late especially when compared with other Asean nations," he said.

The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines supplied by China's Sinovac was distributed to 13 provinces that the government considers high-risk areas yesterday. The doses were then administered to eligible priority groups, which include frontline healthcare workers and individuals with underlying health conditions.

In Pathum Thani, 200 people received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Pornpat Market in Thanyaburi district yesterday, which recently made the headlines after a large number of Covid-19 cases were linked to the market's premises.

The province is aiming to administer the first dose of vaccines to 8,000 healthcare workers, state officers and health volunteers handling Covid-19 cases, individuals with underlying health conditions, as well as vendors at Pornpat and Suchart markets.

Pathum Thani governor Chaiwat Chuenkosum was the first person in the province to receive the first dose of the vaccine.

In Ratchaburi, the vaccination programme began with the province's chief public health officer, Pachari Arirop. The province received 2,500 doses of Sinovac vaccines. An hour after she was injected, Dr Pachari said she didn't develop any unusual reactions.

Ratchaburi was among the first provinces to first receive Covid-19 vaccines because it neighbours Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of the nation's second wave of Covid-19, she said.

In Bangkok, 130 doctors and healthcare workers yesterday were given their first shots of the Covid-19 vaccine, said Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang, adding that the city plans to vaccinate 3,700 people in six areas this week.

Meanwhile, 4,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in Phuket on Monday.

 

 

Bangkok Post