THAILAND is gearing up to start Covid-19 vaccinations in Phuket to expedite its planned reopening to tourism in July.
Some 100,000 doses of vaccines were handed over to Phuket authorities on Saturday as inoculations are expected to start next month.
They were handed over by Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn at the Vachira Phuket Hospital on Saturday.
Under the planned reopening of Thailand's tourism sector, Phuket will be the first province to so in early July under the "Phuket Tourism Sandbox" initiative.
Thailand current Covid-19 tally is 589 fatalities and 101,447 cases.
According to a Bangkok Post report, Phiphat said he would to get the private sector to be involved as more doctors were needed to give the vaccines.
About 300,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be allocated to Phuket by the end of this month while more than 440,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine will be provided in August to vaccinate up to 70 per cent of the Phuket population.
Phuket deputy provincial governor Piyapong Chuwong said he would beef up screening measures for travellers who enter via land and air starting Sunday.
The travellers must have had two jabs and undergo a Rapid Antigen Test in advance.
They are also required to download the "Mor Chana'' mobile tracking app or register on "www.gophuket.com" website.
Meanwhile, a study by a Thai university has found that China's Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines boosted antibody responses in almost all vaccine recipients.
Study was conducted into a vaccination programme run by the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University.
Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Ministry permanent secretary Prof Sirirerk Songwilai said more than 97 per cent of those receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine developed immune responses in tests conducted four weeks after their first shot.
As for the Sinovac vaccine's efficacy, he said the study put the figure at more than 99 per cent after the second dose, although only 65.9 per cent developed immune responses three weeks after the first shot.
Prof Sirirerk stressed the high efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine was only proved after both jabs had been administered to the test subjects, despite its apparent low efficacy after the first round of injections.
He said natural antibody responses to coronavirus were also examined in a group of 263 Covid-19 infected patients to compare with immune responses induced by the vaccinated groups.
Of the 263 infected patients, only 243 (92.4%) developed antibodies against the coronavirus, he added.