19 May, 2021
45,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines are reportedly set to be rolled out for Pattaya and Chonburi residents at 29 places on May 20th and May 21st.
However, at this time, foreign residents can still not officially register although Chonburi Health Officials have said that could change very soon. Thai residents have started to register based on their status through several methods including online applications and website based tools.
The number of Sinovac vaccines scheduled for a mid-May arrival in Banglamung and Pattaya has been decreased from 30,000 doses to 20,000 doses, according to city officials last week.
The Chonburi Public Relation Office stated yesterday (May 17th) to The Pattaya News that Chonburi as a whole will receive 45,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines. 20,000 of these will be for Banglamung, the bulk of the shipment, as Pattaya City is one of five economic priorities in the country.
Vaccination places are being set at 29 places for residents in Chonburi area including Pattaya and Banglamung.
The Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-O-Cha, stated today that he was pausing the idea of walk-in for vaccinations, due to concerns about supply, potential lines and lack of distancing, and other issues.
However, with this idea frozen at least temporarily many foreigners are wondering when they can sign up as some reports have stated a foreign application program won’t open up for some time.
This comes amid mixed messages from authorities at a national level, although the general message is that foreign residents will be able to sign up..eventually. However, when that is and the requirements remain to be seen.
The first round of mass vaccination scheduled for this week is primarily for the elderly and vulnerable as well as tourist workers. Chonburi has been vaccinating on a smaller scale health care workers, first responders, law enforcement, and government officials for weeks now.
The vast majority of Thailand’s vaccines are set to start being produced locally by early next month, and will be Astrazeneca. So far, that remains on track.
Pattaya’s goal is to be able to reach 70 percent of the population vaccinated to reopen to vaccinated foreign tourists in October.
