1 million additional vaccine doses being purchased for Bangkok residents

The Thai government has pledged to purchase an additional 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for Bangkok residents in the coming 2 weeks. Apisamai Srirangson from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says the plan is to vaccinate 70% of the capital’s residents, but to date only 43.6% have been vaccinated.

The Bangkok Post reports that the Disease Control Department will purchase 500,000 vaccine doses by next week, with another 500,000 doses coming the week after. Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry has also vowed to solve the hospital bed shortage.

Apisamai says that since February 28, 13.2 million vaccine doses have been administered, with 3.34 million people having received their second dose. 15,785 doses have been administered to the elderly and 10,532 have been given to those with underlying conditions. Despite this, health officials have still not met the target of vaccinating 50% of people in both groups.

The Bangkok Post reports that from today, the Comprehensive Covid-19 Response Team will visit 200 Bangkok communities, equipped with Covid-19 rapid antigen tests. The team is made up of health officials, district officials, employees of non-governmental organisations, and volunteers.

Meanwhile, Dr Witoon Anankul from the Public Health Ministry has pledged to solve the hospital bed crisis and make more beds available for Covid-19 patients who have moderate to severe symptoms. According to Witoon, the ministry is accelerating measures to allow patients with mild symptoms to self-isolate at home, in order to keep beds free for those with more severe symptoms.

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SOURCE: Bangkok Post