The government has no plans to close down Bang Sue Grand Station’s vaccination center, but a preregistration-only process is being launched for the next round of vaccination, the government said this week.
“We are looking to fix the queuing problem and the Bang Sue center is a public service center, so any improvements must not affect the services that the people are already getting,” said Ratchada Dhnadirek, the deputy government spokeswoman.
“The government has never talked about closing the center down at any meeting, only talks on how to improve it,” she told Thai Enquirer.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the health minister, said on Tuesday that the center will not be closed but walk-ins will only be taken until July 31. The next round will begin on August 1 for people who have pre-registered only.
Apisamai Srirangson, the assistant spokeswoman for the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said on Monday that the government is aware of the crowding problem at the Bang Sue vaccination center.
She said the center is overcrowded because, apart from people living within Bangkok and five surrounding provinces, there are also people coming from other nearby provinces such as Ratchaburi, Saraburi and Suphan Buri.
She said the Ministry of Public Health is concerned about the lack of social distancing at the center and about cross-border travel between the highly controlled provinces.
Travel in and out of Bangkok and neighboring provinces is limited from the latest lockdown orders, but it is still possible if people need to get vaccinated.
The center’s officials need to reconsider their regulations and slow down vaccination at the center until the queueing situation improves, Apisamai said.
Local news reported afterward that there was a suggestion to stop the vaccination at the Bang Sue station because of some political reason.
“There are many rumors and so we ask people to listen to the ways to improve the situation from the CCSA only,” Ratchada told Thai Enquirer.
Arunee Kasayanond, the spokeswoman of the Pheu Thai Party, said on Tuesday that the reason why the CCSA is looking to stop the vaccination at the Bang Sue station is not because of the crowding problem but because of “a political reason.”
“If this is true then it would be bad for the people, and what they should do is to make the vaccination process safer, faster and as many as possible,” she said.
Local news reported that the government might look to hand over control of the vaccination center from the Ministry of Public Health to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) instead.
The ministry and the local administration have locked horns numerous times over how the Covid situation should be handled in the capital.
“Bang Sue has vaccinated more than 1 million people, is this not helping to lower the BMA’s burden?” said Paradorn Prisnanantakul, Bhumjaithai Party’s spokesman. The head of the party is Anutin.
“Instead of thinking about expanding the vaccination center to be Bang Sue 1,2,3 and 4 they are thinking about closing it? What is the CCSA thinking?” he added on his social media post on Tuesday.
The vaccination center is now accepting walk-in vaccinations for the prioritized groups, including people aged 60+, people living with the seven designated underlying diseases, pregnant women and people who weigh more than 100 kilograms until July 31.
For foreigners, the walk-in process is for people aged 75+ while people aged 60+ will have to preregister. Current registration for foreigners is for foreigners residing in Bangkok and five surrounding provinces.
However, the vaccination center announced on Tuesday that the next round of vaccination will be for preregistered people “only”.
The next round will be open for people aged 18+ where 10,000 doses will be set aside for them every day, and another 10,000 will be set aside for the prioritized groups. This round is for people who have yet to receive any dose and all groups must be preregistered with telecommunication providers.
The registration process will start at 9 am on July 29, and the next round will last between August 1 and 31.
