The first day of the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations in Hua Hin and Prachuap Khiri Khan went smoothly, despite ongoing concerns regarding supply and distribution.
In Hua Hin on Monday (June 7), a total of 2,514 people, which included those aged over 60 or with underlying health conditions, were vaccinated in two buildings at Hua Hin Hospital.
Officials said Hua Hin Hospital has the capacity to vaccinate 500 people per hour.
The first person to be vaccinated was a 61 year old man who said he had left his home in Pranburi at 3am, arriving at Hua Hin Hospital at 4am to line up to receive his vaccine. The man said he wasn’t worried about taking the vaccine.
A 91 year old woman was understood to be the oldest patient to receive the vaccine in Hua Hin on Monday.
In Prachuap Khiri Khan, Prompiriya Kitnuson, provincial deputy governor, greeted people waiting to be vaccinated at Prachuap Hospital.
A total of 1,773 people were registered to receive the vaccine at the hospital on Monday with people gradually being given jabs from 8am.
People underwent preliminary screening in an outpatient building where their registration details were confirmed and where they had their temperature taken and blood pressure checked prior to being given the vaccine.
Once vaccinated patients were transferred to another building at the hospital where they remained for up to 30 minutes so hospital staff could monitor for any immediate side effects.
Everyone vaccinated at Prachuap Hospital were given the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The patients will receive the second dose of the vaccine in 16 weeks from now (27th September, 2021).
Meanwhile, Dr. Suriya Kuharat, provincial public health chief, has said a total of 10 vaccination service points have been set up in the 8 districts of Prachuap Khiri Khan, which have the capacity to vaccinate 13,000 people per day.
The news comes as Dr. Suriya recently announced that the province has received fewer than expected doses of the vaccine, forcing some vaccine appointments to be postponed.
Dr. Suriya said the shortage of doses was due to the province not being sent enough by the Ministry of Public Health. The situation regarding vaccine quantities in the province will be monitored over the coming weeks, Dr. Suriya said. However, the situation is expected to improve as Thailand ramps up production of the locally made AstraZeneca vaccine.
Despite the initial shortage, Monday’s vaccination rollout in the province went smoothly, health officials said.
The target is to vaccinate 100% of the Hua Hin’s tourism workers, as well as 70% of locals living in Hua Hin (176,749 people) by the end of September in order to reach herd immunity ahead of the October reopening to vaccinated foreign tourists.
