Religious leaders in the southern border province of Pattani have visited the vaccination centre, in the conference room of the provincial Islamic committee, to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots in an effort to convince their fellow Muslims to do so.

Pattani Governor Niphan Boonluang said that the vaccination rate in Pattani is currently under 50% of the population, the majority of whom are Muslims. This is among the lowest of Thailand’s 77 provinces because of a widespread belief that they might die after receiving the jabs.

Fewer than 1,000 people are being inoculated each day in the province, while health officials have set a target of 2,000 per day.

COVID-19 is still spreading in the province, with 356 cases being reported on Wednesday, making Pattani one of the country’s provinces with the highest infection rates.

As of yesterday, 41,171 people were infected in the province since April 1st this year, with 318 deaths to date, including 2 yesterday.