BANGKOK (NNT) - Phuket province is now ready to go ahead with the Phuket Sandbox reopening to limited quarantine-free tourism for fully vaccinated international visitors. The province’s vaccine rollout is gaining speed with some 62% of the local population now having received at least one dose.

 

Phuket province is now just steps away from vaccinating 70% of its population, a target set to enable a safe reopening of the island province to international visitors.

 

According to a set of data from the Department of Disease Control, published by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), 339,773 people in Phuket or around 62.05% of the local population have already received the first jabs of COVID-19 vaccine, with 165,031 people or 30.14% the population fully vaccinated with both doses. The province must fully vaccinate another 218,277 people to achieve the 70% of population threshold.

 

Phuket’s vice governor Pichet Panapong, said today the province’s vaccine rollout covers Phuket residents, the non-registered population, and foreign workers.

 

Accommodation sites where 70% of staff members have been vaccinated are able to apply for the Amazing Thailand Safety Health Administration Plus (SHA+) certification, in order to welcome foreign travelers from 1st July. There are now around 300 SHA+ hotels in Phuket, ready for the province’s reopening.

 

Mr Pichet has assured the government the province is well prepared for the Sandbox campaign, from accommodation to the healthcare system, with disease screening and lab testing capacity both well prepared.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-06-17

 

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Meanwhile .....in other news , 

 

 

The latest tourist attraction will be ready on time.

 

 

 

And there we have it. The body swerve around the requirements for Phuket opening is complete.

 

weeks of intensive training where the word vaccination has been used to describe people having had only 1 jab has paid off and the coup de gras has been delivered.

 

there’s also the small matter of supposedly not having any Covid cases, when in reality there are a handful of cases a day despite severely limited testing. That has been efficiently and very conveniently forgotten.

Well, we now know where all the vaccines went.

Yeah, that one seems to have been redefined severely.

 

Originally you would have thought 70% vaccinated meant, they had both had their two jabs and the required period after the second one to develop immunity.

 

Then it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen, so having two jabs, OK.

 

But redefining it as having had only one jab is not "vaccinated". Particularly not if the 1st jab is Sinovac, which really needs the second dose to be effective, it is not half as bad as people make out after the second dose but it it has particularly poor efficacy from the first dose.

 

The article does still seem to suggest that "The province must fully vaccinate another 218,277 people to achieve the 70% of population threshold." but I don't see how that can happen in the two weeks remaining.

 

Logically, if only 62% have even the first dose yet, and there is a minimum of two weeks between doses (and that's a very short window, as has been found in trials a longer gap is much more effective), it is simply impossible for 70% to be "fully vaccinated" by the end of the month.

20 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Phuket province is now ready to go ahead with the Phuket Sandbox reopening to limited quarantine-free tourism for fully vaccinated international visitors.

Going to poke a few holes in that statement.

Phuket is Not ready, nor is anywhere else in the country.

Quarantine free? Yeah, can't leave for 14 days, movements monitored like a criminal, despite having been vaccinated. Plague carrying locals have zero restrictions meantime.

Tourism? Well, most go on holiday to chill out and have a good time. No bars, no beer or wine with dinner? A myriad of rules to follow.

The first international news story to break of a tourist being nailed for stupid money, or worse, jail, for some technical infringement, what very limited numbers trickling in will stop straight away and it will take years more to repair that damage.

Phuket, I repeat, is not ready and it really needs to rethink its attitude to those dollar wielding visitors if it ever expects to see them again when the time is right.

mothballed long range aircraft maybe a problem

1 hour ago, blorg said:

Yeah, that one seems to have been redefined severely.

 

Originally you would have thought 70% vaccinated meant, they had both had their two jabs and the required period after the second one to develop immunity.

 

Then it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen, so having two jabs, OK.

 

But redefining it as having had only one jab is not "vaccinated". Particularly not if the 1st jab is Sinovac, which really needs the second dose to be effective, it is not half as bad as people make out after the second dose but it it has particularly poor efficacy from the first dose.

 

The article does still seem to suggest that "The province must fully vaccinate another 218,277 people to achieve the 70% of population threshold." but I don't see how that can happen in the two weeks remaining.

 

Logically, if only 62% have even the first dose yet, and there is a minimum of two weeks between doses (and that's a very short window, as has been found in trials a longer gap is much more effective), it is simply impossible for 70% to be "fully vaccinated" by the end of the month.

Ironically, one of the requirements for a thai resident to enter Phuket is 1 jab of AZ or two jabs of sinovac. So they themselves acknowledge that sinovac is really only effective after two doses. And yet they STILL persist in referring to one jab of sinovac as “vaccinated”.

1 minute ago, wensiensheng said:

Ironically, one of the requirements for a thai resident to enter Phuket is 1 jab of AZ or two jabs of sinovac. So they themselves acknowledge that sinovac is really only effective after two doses. And yet they STILL persist in referring to one jab of sinovac as “vaccinated”.

Slightly off topic, a news report 15 minutes ago on CNA stated that hundreds of Indonesian medical staff in different areas are testing positive for CV19 after all been vaccinated with Sinovac ( the popular vaccine for Indonesia and Thailand).   

3 minutes ago, CANSIAM said:

Slightly off topic, a news report 15 minutes ago on CNA stated that hundreds of Indonesian medical staff in different areas are testing positive for CV19 after all been vaccinated with Sinovac ( the popular vaccine for Indonesia and Thailand).   

Hmm, I see that. The delta variant apparently. Sinovac has a reduced efficacy to it.

 

you’d hope that the Thai authorities are taking note of it and perhaps reviewing how they might need to adapt their plans. But of course they aren’t.

2 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Hmm, I see that. The delta variant apparently. Sinovac has a reduced efficacy to it.

 

you’d hope that the Thai authorities are taking note of it and perhaps reviewing how they might need to adapt their plans. But of course they aren’t.

Alarming and possibly disastrous......

Having received one dose isn't the same as having been vaccinated. Not surprisingly, from foreign visitors they require a full course, completed at least two weeks prior to arrival.

 

62% is well below their 70% target, and even 70% might be too low to actually achieve herd immunity.

 

What a mess.

 

they are deceiving the public with blatant lies and deception - a face saving attempt to cover up massive failures

 

their corrupt pockets are the highest priority

 

I hope foreigners see this for what it is and go elsewhere 

 

 

21 minutes ago, smedly said:

they are deceiving the public with blatant lies and deception - a face saving attempt to cover up massive failures

 

their corrupt pockets are the highest priority

 

I hope foreigners see this for what it is and go elsewhere 

 

 

Syria for example sounds more appealing than this and has plenty of sand for the box  ???? 

59 minutes ago, CANSIAM said:

Slightly off topic, a news report 15 minutes ago on CNA stated that hundreds of Indonesian medical staff in different areas are testing positive for CV19 after all been vaccinated with Sinovac ( the popular vaccine for Indonesia and Thailand).   

 

They are, but the other side of it is that there has been a massive reduction in deaths, more than a tenfold reduction. It's not 100%, and there are concerns about the new variant, but it does still seem to be helping.

 

Quote

More than 350 Indonesian doctors and healthcare workers have contracted COVID-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised ... the number of Indonesian healthcare workers dying from COVID-19 has decreased significantly – dropping from 158 deaths this January to 13 this May

 

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-covid-19-doctors-hospitalised-delta-variant-vaccinated-15033196

 

I don't think Sinovac is the best vaccine. But that doesn't mean it's totally useless either.

Reported post and replies removed.

9 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The province’s vaccine rollout is gaining speed with some 62% of the local population now having received at least one dose.

With Chinese gunk as low as 3% efficacy on 1 dose, let the pandemic explosion begin.

 

I want to get back asap, but this is daft

7 hours ago, CANSIAM said:

Alarming and possibly disastrous......

So lets see.  First the serial whiners said Thais can't do anything right and it will never happen.  Then when that turned out wrong they said that they can't get enough vaccine to pull it off.  Now that it looks like they are going to succeed the new hotness among the serial whiners is that it's going to become a dystopian disaster with zombies eating brains?  is that about right.

2 hours ago, shdmn said:

So lets see.  First the serial whiners said Thais can't do anything right and it will never happen.  Then when that turned out wrong they said that they can't get enough vaccine to pull it off.  Now that it looks like they are going to succeed the new hotness among the serial whiners is that it's going to become a dystopian disaster with zombies eating brains?  is that about right.

Amazing how you take a quote from the poster "Alarming and possibly disastrous......" in his reply to the possible effects of the delta variant on Thailand and then change it to a completely unrelated rant about zombies eating brains.

 

The fact is that the delta variant is dangerous and playing down the risk as you are is dangerous.

i think vaccination rate is the least of Phuket problems. Nothing decided yet, all government groups and commissions busy having meetings. maybe it's too early for hamster run

10 hours ago, CANSIAM said:

Slightly off topic, a news report 15 minutes ago on CNA stated that hundreds of Indonesian medical staff in different areas are testing positive for CV19 after all been vaccinated with Sinovac ( the popular vaccine for Indonesia and Thailand).   

Nobody ever claimed any vaccine stops you contracting the virus

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Going to poke a few holes in that statement.

Phuket is Not ready, nor is anywhere else in the country.

Quarantine free? Yeah, can't leave for 14 days, movements monitored like a criminal, despite having been vaccinated. Plague carrying locals have zero restrictions meantime.

Tourism? Well, most go on holiday to chill out and have a good time. No bars, no beer or wine with dinner? A myriad of rules to follow.

The first international news story to break of a tourist being nailed for stupid money, or worse, jail, for some technical infringement, what very limited numbers trickling in will stop straight away and it will take years more to repair that damage.

Phuket, I repeat, is not ready and it really needs to rethink its attitude to those dollar wielding visitors if it ever expects to see them again when the time is right.

The international community would do well to advise of the potential health issues for those planning on visiting this place. 

9 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Syria for example sounds more appealing than this and has plenty of sand for the box  ???? 

Please don't mention Syria as this may give this depraved government  ideas about  using barrel bombs against its own civilian population that it and the ruling elite so despise.

Choose your vaccine carefully.. Oh sorry no real choice as yet. Still worth having Sinovac but get a third jab of a vaccine which has better effacy when you can..

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-indonesian-doctors-contract-covid-19-despite-vaccination-dozens-2021-06-17/

Phuket’s vice governor Pichet Panapong, said today the province’s vaccine rollout covers Phuket residents, the non-registered population, and foreign workers.

 

Note the absence  of foreign retirees

1 hour ago, clivebaxter said:

Nobody ever claimed any vaccine stops you contracting the virus

It be a good idea to keep variants here in tight check.......... 

Get your seats and popcorn ready and sit back and watch the mother of all failures roll out !! ????

1 minute ago, CANSIAM said:

It be a good idea to keep variants here in tight check.......... 

Also a good idea to keep deviants in check ????

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Phuket province is now ready to go ahead with the Phuket Sandbox reopening to limited quarantine-free tourism for fully vaccinated international visitors. The province’s vaccine rollout is gaining speed with some 62% of the local population now having received at least one dose.

A lost cause if ever there was one... 62% had the first dose and they think they're prepared.

To be honest I truly hope it works ????