Bangkok began a new vaccination drive for monks and other people at temples on Friday as Thailand battles a recent surge of infections driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
“Today, we (Bangkok Metropolitan Office) have invited about 600 monks, undertakers, cooks and people who are located at the temples of Thonburi city area to get vaccinated,” said Bangkok governor, Aswin Kwanmuang.
Officials said the aim is to provide AstraZeneca vaccines to 221 temples in the Thai capital, before beginning distribution in other parts of the country.
While Thailand received 1.5 million doses of Pfizer vaccines donated by the U.S. government on Friday, its drive has so far depended on on Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines and has faced delays since it began last month. Just 5.6% of the country’s 66 million population been fully vaccinated so far.
The country’s COVID-19 task force reported 17,345 new cases and 117 new deaths on Friday (July 30).
