Thailand began a mass vaccination drive to quell the worst Covid-19 outbreak to date, with a target of inoculating 70% of its residents before the end of this year to prepare the tourism-reliant nation for a wider reopening.
The Southeast Asian nation plans to administer about 500,000 shots per day starting Monday, compared to about 100,000 daily average over the past week, according to health ministry officials. The target population in the initial phase of the nationwide rollout include residents in Bangkok, the epicenter of the current outbreak, and those in Phuket, which is scheduled to test the reopening for vaccinated tourists from July 1, they said.
The ramp-up in vaccine rollout comes amid the country’s worst wave of infections that began in April, causing a sixfold jump in cases and a surge in Covid deaths. New clusters of infections have…
