The Khon Kaen municipality is speeding up its Covid-19 mass vaccination programme while hoping to lift certain restrictions when it reaches at least 70% in coverage later this year.
About half of its population of about 110,000 will be vaccinated against Covid in the first two rounds of the mass vaccination using the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine supplied by Chulabhorn Royal Academy (CRA), said Thirasak Thikhayuphan, mayor of Khon Kaen municipality, yesterday.
On Saturday, about 10% of people who registered for vaccination, however, didn't show up. They were believed to be either bed-ridden patients or elderly people who couldn't travel to the vaccination venues on their own, Mr Thirasak said. Vaccination teams will be sent into communities to vaccinate these people later in the next round of the mass vaccination programme, he said.
It is projected that by October, about 70% of the local population will be inoculated and the municipality will then consider a proposal to "reopen" the city if all sides approve, he said. Details will be discussed later, he said.
Whether the 11 schools under the municipality will also be able to resume classes next term will be discussed again when the 70% vaccination coverage goal is achieved, he said.
Aside from the registered population, the municipality also aims to include the more than 100 homeless people in the city in the jab scheme, he said.
All five vaccination venues, each equipped with 25 vaccination booths, will continue vaccinating people until next month, he said, adding each vaccination venue is capable of injecting up to 2,650 people per day.
The Khon Kaen municipality is among a number of local administration organisations nationwide purchasing the so-called alternative Covid-19 vaccines through the CRA for their residents. Aside from the CRA, the Thai Red Cross Society previously pledged to speed up delivering a different brand of Covid-19 vaccine to those local administration organisations requesting vaccine supplies.