Nearly 70,000 foreigners register for vaccines on expatvac site

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, almost 70,000 expat and foreign residents have signed up for Covid-19 vaccines using the expatvac website. The website was created by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, along with the Ministry of Public Health, and open to the public on August 1.

The website was set up to help all the expats and foreigners that have been living in Thailand but have struggled to get access to vaccines. The expatvac site allowed foreigners of any age group and any location within Thailand to register to receive their vaccination.

The director of the Health Hazard and Disease Control Division of the Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that they have set aside enough vaccines for every foreign resident who registered on the website. According to their data, as of Tuesday, 69,441 people had signed up to request Covid-19 vaccines, and so far 47,794 of those who signed up have received a vaccination appointment.

One interesting statistic is that 55,560 of the applicants, equating to about 80%, are under the age of 60. Further, just 6% of those who signed up were afflicted with one of the 7 health conditions the Thai government has designated as high risk and most eligible for priority vaccination. Also, 337 pregnant women registered, 0.4% of all those who applied, as they are another demographic that receives vaccine priority.

So far, the nationality with the most registered requests for vaccines is Filipinos with nearly 8,000 expats requesting inoculation. The ministries encourage any foreigner living in Thailand who have not yet been vaccinated to register on the expatvac website as this is the way to notify the government to earmark a vaccine for them. You can register to receive your first vaccine here.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post