Covid-19 vaccination hub opens at Central Plaza mall in Bangkok

A Covid-19 vaccination hub opened up at the Central Plaza Lardprao in Bangkok, making it the first immunisation centre outside a hospital. Yesterday, around 1,000 people were inoculated at the new centre after registering for a vaccine on the Mor Prom mobile application. Most of those vaccinated yesterday were government officers, volunteers or those who are at a high risk of infection.

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Ramathibodi Hospital teamed up to open the centre at the Central Plaza shopping mall. The centre is open every day from 8:30am to 5pm.

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha praised the private sector for backing the national Covid-19 immunisation campaign, adding the move may prompt more businesses to set up vaccination hubs. So far, more than a dozen vaccination centres, not including hospital sites, are planned to open up in Bangkok, Prayut says.

The Thai government set the ambitious goal of vaccinating 50 million people by the end of the year. The Thai government also plans to vaccinate 5 million people in Bangkok within the next 2 months in an effort to contain the outbreak in the capital. Vaccinations are now being sped up in high-risk areas such as Bangkok’s Khlong Toey slum. So far, the number of people registering for a vaccine has been lower than expected.

“We must eradicate fears of the Covid-19 vaccine. The government can confirm that all the imported Covid-19 vaccines are thoroughly inspected… Our inspection is probably more stringent than in other countries.”

Prayut says the Thai government has secured 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and they are working on securing another 50 million doses. He adds that the AstraZeneca vaccine made locally by Siam Bioscience will be ready at the end of the month.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post