Pattaya’s Covid-19 public vaccination drive gets slow start

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A Pattaya resident gets her COVID-19 vaccination early Monday morning.

The Pattaya area’s public coronavirus-testing campaign limped out of the starting gate Monday, with the entire area receiving fewer than 3,000 doses to spread around.

Pattaya City Hospital had the lion’s share of the AstraZeneca CoronaShield vaccine doses, inoculating 2,000 people who pre-registered for their first doses.

Queues were orderly, but doses were only given to those who preregistered and were at least age 60 or had one of seven chronic diseases. Monks, teachers and medical personnel also qualified.



Banglamung District public health chief Sompol Jittruengkiat said June 7 that 850 additional doses were allocated for five subdistricts surrounding Pattaya. Pong Subdistrict got 200 shots, Takhiantia 110, Nong Plalai 200, Khao Maikaew 150 and Banglamung Subdistrict 150.

A large group of people assembled Monday morning at the Pong Subdistrict office, more people than there actually were doses available.

Elderly citizens in Pong sub-district have the blood pressures checked before receiving their shots.

More than 5,000 people in Nongprue alone have registered for doses of AstraZeneca’s CoronaShield vaccine. The entire province of Chonburi is expecting to receive only 54,000 doses this month.

Nong Plalai heath director Sural Kluemprasert said many people showed up after hearing about it on village broadcasts or on social media and hastened to register.

Only those who registered with the Mor Phrom mobile app June 1-5 will get immunized Monday. The rest will have to wait to be notified when more vaccines are available.

Elderly people arrive at Pattaya City Hospital for their COVID-19 vaccinations.