BANGKOK: Thais who do not want to wait for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution from their government have opted for a new option to get it overseas.
“So many people have called – hundreds of them – but 80 per cent of them don’t have a US visa. This is despite me having said they need it to join as they won’t be able to travel otherwise,” Mr Rachphol told CNA.Still, people keep calling. This actually shows they really want to go. READ: Thailand faces 'tight situation' for hospital beds, those with many COVID-19 symptoms to get priorityCOVID-19 vaccine tourism recently took off in Thailand, where vaccination against the coronavirus is prioritised according to age and health conditions. Currently, tens of millions of local residents rely on the government for vaccine allocation as it is the sole importer of COVID-19 vaccines.
Moreover, the country is battling its biggest wave of COVID-19 outbreak so far. On May 17, its COVID-19 centre reported 9,635 new patients in one day. More than 70 per cent of the new infections were detected in jails and prisons.Since the new wave hit Thailand in early April, 84,692 people have been infected by the coronavirus and more than 500 have died. The recent spikes in cases and fear of possible mutations have pushed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha to procure more COVID-19 vaccines.
According to Mr Prayut, the Public Health Ministry proposed more vaccine procurement plans, including 5 million to 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 5 million to 10 million doses from each of the Sputnik V, Sinovac and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The first phase started in February, targeting risk groups and areas with high levels of infection. Recipients include medical personnel, health officials and volunteers, people aged 60 and over, and those with chronic diseases.
"The preliminary approach will be 30:50:20, which can be adjusted as necessary by the provincial communicable disease committee. For example, if there are 1,000 doses, 30 per cent of them can be allocated to appointments made through mobile application Mor Prom, 50 per cent to those made at hospitals, and 20 per cent to walk-ins," CCSA said on May 14.
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