 |
| A migrant worker receives his first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19 at Thailand's Red Cross centre in Bangkok, Thailand, Oct 5, 2021. (File photo by=Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] BANGKOK: After reporting cases of the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant had more than doubled over the holiday period, Thailand's health ministry on Tuesday (Jan 4) called on people to come forward to get booster vaccinations, Reuters reported.
The Southeast Asian country has recorded 2,062 cases of the Omicron variant so far, health official Supakit Sirilak told a news conference, up from 740 cases before the holidays. Health authorities have warned of the risk of a surge of infections after the holidays when people travel home and gather at restaurants for celebrations. Out of the Omicron infections, 1,105 were among foreign arrivals with the remainder in those who had come into contact with arrivals, he said. Up to now, Thailand has vaccinated 64.1 percent of an estimated 72 million people in the country with two doses, government data shows, while officials said only 9.8 percent had received a third booster shot.
Alarmed by the spread of Omicron, Thailand last month suspended its Test & Go travel scheme that allowed vaccinated tourists to skip quarantine and an official said people who had previously registered for the scheme must enter by Jan 10. Thailand has reported a total of 2.2 million infections and 21,750 coronavirus-related fatalities.
