Big vaccination push in Chiang Mai in bid to combat Covid-19 surge

The president of the Tourism Council of Chiang Mai is hoping a ramp-up of vaccination efforts will help combat a surge in Covid-19. Punlop Saejew says health officials are pulling out all the stops in a bid to get the northern province ready for the November 1 re-opening.

“The current clusters have affected local confidence towards re-opening. Everyone is working hard to flatten the curve by preparing beds for critically ill patients and ramping up vaccinations.”

According to a Bangkok Post report, Chiang Mai has around 30% of hospital beds available. However, the provincial communicable disease committee says beds for critically ill patients are at 95% occupancy. Punlop says over 51% of residents have received their first vaccine dose, with over 35% fully vaccinated. The province has the capacity to administer up to 20,000 doses a day. According to Punlop, officials are…