“The OrBorJor will receive 5,060 doses of Moderna vaccine from the Red Cross,” Mr Rewat said after a meeting yesterday (Aug 17), re-confirming the news announced last month.
“Today, we had a meeting with Thai Red Cross Secretary General Krisada Boonyarat about the vaccine arrangement and recipients who are at-risk people who have not received any vaccination injections,” Mr Rewat explained in a video announcement today.
“The meeting was to make a clear understanding among the provincial administrative organisations across the country to strictly follow the conditions [of receiving the Moderna vaccine],” he said.
Mr Rewat explained that the groups of people to receive the Moderna vaccine as a priority were:
- Bedridden patients, disabled people, pregnant women
- Elders who are more than 70 years old
- Doctors and medical staff who work in rural areas
- Teachers in kindergartens, nurseries and schools
- Officials who must come in close contact with infected and high-risk contacts, and members of the general public who are unable to be vaccinated under the current state-vaccination campaign
“Phuket will receive 5,060 doses of the vaccine, which can vaccinate only 2,530 people. If we do not have the group of people up to the number, if the Red Cross approves, we can provide the vaccine to other groups of people,” he said.
“For example, those who are younger than 70 years old or those who have received a vaccine injection but are necessary to receive another type of vaccine injection [as a booster],” he said.
“We will open for registration in the coming week through our own website for those who meet the conditions of the prioritised groups because we have to submit the list of vaccine recipients to the Red Cross by September 30,” Mr Rewat said.
“We need to present the list of names of the people in the five groups to the Red Cross before we receive the vaccine. The vaccine doses will come in October, and we will start administering injections in November,” he said.
Mr Rewat today said he would continue his efforts to secure more doses of the vaccine for use among the general public as a “booster shot”, a goal he also announced last month.
“I will do my best to bring the third dose of vaccine to our brothers and sisters because I know COVID-19 will be with us for a long while. I will try my best to respond to your trust,” he said.
The Moderna vaccine has proved a popular vaccine choice among Phuket people instead of the Chinese-made Sinovac, which has been used for most state-provided vaccinations on the the island, along with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been used for people over 60 and other higher-risk groups on the island.
Early last month more than 67,000 people attempted to register to be vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine by Bangkok Hospital Phuket and Bangkok Hospital Siriroj.
The online rush collapsed the registration website, leaving many people frustrated over the experience.
MASS VACCINATIONS
Meanwhile, Phuket officials today reported that 73% of the population on the island has now received a second vaccination injection, alluding to the claim that the island now has enough vaccinated people to achieve herd immunity.
However, the reports have so far refrained from making the claim outright and officials have yet to announce that the herd immunity threshold has now been achieved.
Mass vaccination efforts resumed on Monday (Aug 16), the Phuket office of the Public relations Department (PR Phuket) reported this evening, with about 2,000 people arriving at the Indoor Sports Stadium at Saphan Hin each day to receive their second injections.
The second injections at Saphan Hin are expected to be completed tomorrow, said the PR Phuket report.
In total, as of Aug 17, 340,727 people have received their second injections, said the report, marking that 73% of the target 466,587 people on the island had been vaccinated.
The report also marked that 426,726 people had received their first vaccination injection, or 91% of the target 466,587 ‒ hence by its own admission the report marks that 85,999 have yet to receive their second vaccination jab.