MedPark Hospital offers night vaccination service to foreigners
A healthcare facility in Bangkok, MedPark Hospital, is offering night-time Covid-19 vaccinations to foreign residents in Thailand to avoid any effects on daily vaccination services as well as on weekends.
The night-time service, named "Going the Extra Mile, Extra Hours", is available from August 2-9, from 6pm to 10pm.
Dr Pongpat Patanavanich, managing director of MedPark Hospital, said that due to the rapid spread of Covid-19 and the surge in new cases over the past few months in Thailand, especially in Bangkok, MedPark is speeding up vaccine administration for people's safety.
"It is essential to generate an immune response among people including the hundreds of thousands of expats who live and work with Thais," Pongpat said.
MedPark is one of three designated hospitals providing pre-registration for foreigners via the Thailandintervac campaign, which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health.
Initially, the vaccination service is only available to foreigners who booked in advance or pre-registered for vaccines.
Pongpat explained that the hospital is providing the vaccination service for expats to support the government's vaccine allocation plan. In the urgent phase, the Department of Disease Control has prioritised vaccinations for healthcare professionals and frontline workers as their third booster dose.
The other target groups for vaccinations are Thais and foreigners aged 60 and above, people living with seven chronic diseases (interventional pulmonology, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and obesity with weight more than 100kg) and foreign women pregnant for 12 weeks or longer.
Earlier, MedPark partnered with the Ministry of Public Health and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to organise "Save Doctors, Save People, Save Thailand" to accelerate vaccinations for members of the Thai Clinic Association and general public.
MedPark said it has given more than 80,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines so far as of the end of July and expects to deliver more than 100,000 doses to Thais and foreigners by the end of September.
"In the current crisis caused by the rapid spread of coronavirus, particularly the Delta variant, MedPark is dedicated to vaccinate as many people as possible as fast as possible. It is our crucial measure to support the government’s goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of the adult population in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces, including over 300,000 foreign residents in Bangkok. This will create herd immunity and help reduce the drastic impact on the public healthcare system,” Pongpat said.
