Public Opinion on COVID-19 Inoculation in Thailand - Thai PBS World Tonight [7th May 2021]

Two and a half months after the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines landed in Thailand, over 1.5 million people across the country have already been vaccinated. That covered about 1% of the population.

Since the supplies are strictly limited, the priority is given to frontline healthcare workers and those who have high risk exposure first.

The country has been hit hard with the pandemic since early last year, leaving the economy as well as the people’s well-being and day-to-day lives greatly impacted.

To control the situation and bring back normalcy, the Thai government plans to vaccinate 70% of the population or roughly 50 million people by the end of the year.

Vaccine registration has been open for the vulnerable groups of people namely those who aged 60 and above and those with some specific chronic diseases in the past week on May 1 while the registration for the general public aging between 18 to 59 will be opened again in the next two months.

It comes just at the right time as now Thailand may need protection the most since the number of infections hitting roughly 2,000 every day in the past weeks after the Songkran holidays which saw people travelling between provinces, visiting their family.

But at the same time reports keep emerging of people getting undesirable effects after getting the jabs while preliminary results show the vaccines used in the country may not be as effective, with the efficacy rate around 50%.

So what do people think about getting inoculated?