Red Cross insists on free Moderna jabs for public

Red Cross insists on free Moderna jabs for public

The Thai Red Cross Society yesterday reiterated that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which will be procured via the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, must be given to the public free of charge.

In a letter to provincial governors nationwide, the society said a total of 1 million Moderna vaccine doses will be allocated to provincial administrative organisations (PAOs) for distribution to five unvaccinated target groups.

PAOs are required to submit their vaccine rollout plans, approved by governors in their capacity as chairs of their provincial communicable disease committees, to the society by Wednesday, the letter said.

Tej Bunnag, secretary-general of the society, said the Thai Red Cross sets the price of each dose at 1,300 baht and if the purchase order is approved, payments must be made before Friday.

Mr Tej insisted that the allocated jabs must be given free of charge to five target groups, which include people with disabilities; bed-ridden patients; pregnant women; people aged 70 and older; and medical workers in remote areas.

Meanwhile, City Hall is urging people aged 60 and over and people with seven listed chronic diseases to register for jabs under its Thai Ruam Jai vaccination campaign as the rollout for these two groups will commence on Monday.

According to City Hall, it is allocating 500,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the Public Health Ministry for distribution to these two groups at 25 vaccination centres.

However, City Hall advises people with chronic diseases to choose to get their jabs at hospitals rather than the off-site vaccination centres for safety reasons.

For those aged 18–59, who have registered to participate in the Ruam Jai vaccination campaign, their appointments will be rescheduled as soon as City Hall can allocate additional vaccine supplies, it said.

The rollout for this group has been suspended.

In other news, the Department of Medical Science yesterday said people who lied about their age when registering for vaccination at the Bang Sue Grand Station will not get the jabs.

According to the department, a large number of registrants lied about their age, and even though they've managed to book their appointments, they will be denied the service on showing up.

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