Yesterday it was confirmed that in the initial rollout from February to April only ten provinces would get a look in. Phuket and Surat Thai - where Koh Samui is suffering greatly - were not in the plans at all. Neither was Krabi. - Thai Visa

'Tourism provinces' not included in first roll out of COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand

 

File photo for reference only
 

A spokesman for the CCSA Covid authority claimed that tourism provinces figured greatly in plans for vaccination.

 

Yet this came after they were virtually ignored in the first round of vaccination.

 

Yesterday it was confirmed that in the initial rollout from February to April only ten provinces would get a look in.

 

Phuket and Surat Thai - where Koh Samui is suffering greatly - were not in the plans at all. Neither was Krabi.

 

Rayong, Chonburi (Pattaya province), Trat (Koh Chang) and Chantaburi were included. But in these provinces only medical personnel and those treating and in close contact with Covid people would be vaccinated.

 

Only in three provinces including Bangkok - admittedly a tourist center - would people with chronic heath conditions and over 60s get a jab.

 

The others were Tak in the north west and Samut Sakhon - both areas of outbreaks but hardly tourism centers. 

 

Yet yesterday Apisamai Srirangsan of the CCSA responding to questions from the Thai press said:

 

"Tourism provinces are part of the (vaccination) plan for sure"

 

"The CCSA," she further claimed, "gives importance to tourism as a key (economic) driver of the country".

 

In the light of her comments tourism businesses in the south as well as the eastern seaboard and Chiang Mai are likely to be asking:

 

If we're so important why will we have to wait until June?

 

Dr Apisamai said that medical personnel will be jabbed from February to May (not April as previously stated in the media) and only from June to December will a wider rollout be mounted.