The vaccine delivery was received at the medical supplies storage area at Vachira Phuket Hospital.
Present to witness the occasion were Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew, Vive Governor Pichet Panapong and Vachira Hospital Director Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol.
The vaccine doses were checked for integrity, that the transport temperature did not breach the required 2-8°C, the serial and lot numbers of the batches delivered were confirmed, and that the correct number of doses had been received.
Of the 50,000 doses delivered today, 30,000 will be stored at Vachira Phuket Hospital and 20,000 will be stored at Thalang Hospital before being delivered tomorrow (Apr 1) at five vaccine service points set up by the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO).
The five vaccine serve centres at located at:
- Phuket International Airport, the new extension building
- Jungceylon shopping center, Patong
- Angsana Laguna Phuket resort in Bang Tao, Cherng Talay
- The 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Centre at Saphan Hin
- Phuket Orchid Resort and Spa Hotel in Karon
The goal is to administer the vaccine to 50,000 people before the Songkran Thai New Year holidays, Dr Chalermpong told the press.
“To achieve that goal, medical personnel from both public and private hospitals in the area have joined together to support more than 16 medical teams per day to accelerate the first 50,000 doses of vaccination to be completed before Songkran,” he said.
The remaining 50,000 doses of vaccine allocated to Phuket by the Ministry of Public Health for deployment in April will arrive on the island after Songkran, Dr Chalermpong said.
Phuket Governor Narong has already called for people across the island to register to be vaccinated.
“Currently, Phuket Province is in a time to accelerate tourism rehabilitation, which is the main mechanism for driving the economy of the province and the country,” Governor Narong said.
“Getting 70% of Phuket residents vaccinated is a challenge, but the provincial government will do our best to make Phuket survive before accepting all vaccinated tourists to stimulate the economy on July 1,” he added.
Earlier today Vice Governor Piyapong explained that of the first 50,000 vaccine doses to be delivered to Phuket, 40,000 will be provided to workers in the tourism industry, 3,000 will be administered to medical staff, and the remaining 7,000 will be allocated to the general public.
V/Gov Piyapong and Dr Chlermpong earlier today also urged people to register to be vaccinated through a new online form launched today, with a special fast-track form for hotels and other tourism businesses to bulk upload details of staff so they could be given priority in the mass-vaccination rollout.