Phuket doesn’t want to wait for Thailand’s mass Covid vaccination rollout.
The island is planning its own private Covid vaccination program for about 250,000 residents to spearhead a tourism industry recovery.
"The people of Phuket are losing hope," said Phuket Tourism Association President, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam.
Several Phuket industry associations are working together to fund vaccinations for at least 70% of the island’s population.
"We are in talks with three major hospital networks to procure AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines," Bhummikitti said.
He said inoculating at least 400,000 would cover most of the island’s adults befoe the government’s national vaccination dive begins in June.
Bhummikitti said vaccinated foreign tourists should be able to skip quarantine.
"They have immunity, we will have immunity. We talk to each other through masks. The logic works," he said.
Other tourism leaders in recent days have echoed those sentiments.
However, that may not happen until Thailand rolls out its ‘vaccine passport’ which is being discussed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the government’s Covid-19 taskforce.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
