Vaccine appointments from today via Mor Prom LINE account

Thailand has launched the Mor Prom account on the Line app today where locals can register to get their vaccine appointments. While 16 million people earmarked as vulnerable will get top priority for the free vaccines, everyone can sign up now, though it appears to be for Thai citizens only. Starting today, people can register for vaccination using the Line app by contacting Mor Prom, which is Thai for “doctor’s ready”. You will need to include your Thai ID number to register.

According to Thai PBS World, the CCSA suggests for those who are not tech-friendly, register at your local hospital or with a health volunteer or clinic. A spokesperson even suggested asking a younger relative for help. They stressed that people already on the priority list do not need to flood the system today, as registration will be ongoing for a long time.

People with chronic conditions and seniors get priority to minimise Covid-19 deaths. Half the Coronavirus deaths in Thailand had underlying health conditions or were elderly, according to the chair of the Covid-19 Vaccine Management Committee who is also the Deputy Minister for Public Health. While everyone can sign up with the Mor Prom app,

11.7 million Thai people over the age of 60 will be first in line, followed by 4.3 million people labelled as vulnerable due to underlying illnesses like stroke, kidney failure, heart and blood vessel conditions, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. The government has confirmed that foreigners will be included in the country’s vaccine roll out, but not at this stage.

The first priority group will be vaccinated starting June 7 and continuing through to the end of July. The public health ministry is confident that there will be enough vaccines and inoculations by the time the Mor Prom vaccine appointments are in full swing to reach the 70% threshold by the end of the year in order to achieve her immunity. AstraZeneca is set to 6 million vaccines in June and 10 million more in July, plus the local Siam Bioscience say they will be in full production of the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically in case of any importing delays.

The Mor Prom Line account is operated by the Thai Public Health Ministry and features a menu of helpful tools on its chat page. You can click register to fill in your first and last name, home province, and national ID card number. You can also click add people in order to register other people like family members or friends that may not be on the Line app. Once registered, vaccine appointments can be booked.

All applicants will be checked against the eligibility list the government keeps for priority vaccines. Before your appointment, you will receive alerts via Line with information about your appointment and on observing side effects, along with booking the follow-up appointment for your second vaccine. Rescheduling is also an option for those needing to change vaccine appointments.

This new Line account hopes to hasten Covid-19 vaccinations at a time when the pandemic is surging throughout the country. Infections and death rates have grown more quickly than in past ‘waves’ with the B117 variant of Covid-19 currently sweeping across Thailand.