The new dates for different vaccination centres across the island were announced by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).
People who received their first injection of AstraZeneca in June and were informed that their second injection would be in September will now receive their second injection this month, the agency announced through several announcements.
All recipients will receive an SMS to inform them of their new scheduled times to receive their second injection, the announcements noted.
Those who received their first vaccination injection at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town on June 11-25 and were scheduled to receive their second injection on Sept 13-17 will now receive their second injection on Aug 25-29.
At the Indoor Sports Stadium at Saphan Hin, those who were to receive their second jab on Sept 13-16 will now do so on Aug 16-19. Those who were already scheduled to receive their second jab on Aug 17-18 will now have to wait until Sept 6 and 7.
Any vaccination appointments at the Indoor Sports Stadium already scheduled from Oct 7 onwards remain unchanged.
In Patong, those who received their first injection at Jungceylon shopping mall on June 7-10 and were scheduled to receive their second injection on Sept 13-15 will now receive their second injection on Aug 16-18.
At the Karon Orchid Resort and Spa, those who were to receive their second injection on Sept 13-16 will now do so on Aug 16-18. Any second injection appointments scheduled for Sept 17-23 remain unchanged.
Those who were to receive their second vaccination injection at the X-terminal building at Phuket International Airport on Sept 13-15 will now do so on Aug 16-18. Those scheduled to receive their second injection on Sept 16-18 will now do so on Aug 20, 24 and 25.
The move to push forward with the second injections will allow officials to deem those who receive the second injections as “fully vaccinated”, which also serves as a critical requirement in order to leave the province and return.
According to the latest report of the mass vaccination campaign in Phuket released today, so far 323,233 people in Phuket have received second vaccination injections.
The figure represents just 69% of the target 466,587 people officials are aiming to have vaccinated on the island in order to achieve “herd immunity” ‒ a goal that has been set out since early this year.
With no explanation from Phuket officials, the number of people reported to have received their second vaccination injections has stood at 69% for the past month.
In contrast, the mass-vaccination report for Phuket issued today also marked that so far 422,498 people on the island have received their first vaccination injection.
The difference leaves 99,265 people in Phuket who have received their first injection but are still waiting for their second.