A state-private committee for Covid-19 vaccinations in industrial estates has been set up to help the government achieve its goal of administering 500,000 vaccine doses daily.
The numbers are based on the government's plan to provide 100 million doses for 50 million people this year in order to build herd immunity, according to media reports.
The new committee, chaired by Warawan Chitaroon, deputy permanent secretary for industry, is scheduled to meet today regarding vaccination venues as well as discuss cooperation with the private sector, which has vowed to help officials speed up vaccine distribution, said Kobchai Sungsitthisawad, permanent secretary for industry.
It is also slated to discuss the appropriate number of workers and villagers to receive vaccinations per day to avoid overcrowding, according to the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).
Veeris Ammarapala, IEAT governor, said officials have been ordered to conduct a survey of industrial estate locations that can be turned into vaccination venues.
"We found 59 of our 62 industrial estates nationwide can be used as vaccination venues," he said. "Three industrial estates are not appropriate because they are located far from communities."
The 62 industrial estates have a total of 5,080 factories.
The Industry Ministry plans to administer vaccines to workers who work in and outside industrial estates, as well as villagers who live in nearby communities.
Following the meeting, IEAT plans to decide how many people will receive vaccines in each industrial estate.
"We are concerned about congestion as this may lead to new infections," said Mr Veeris.
IEAT is cooperating with the Disease Control Department to jointly plan daily vaccine distribution to ensure the process is carried out under strict hygiene standards.
The authority plans to provide full support to the government to help it achieve its national inoculation goal.