Pattaya plans to boost and test its way out of the coming omicron coronavirus wave.
Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome said city residents are urged to obtain their third Covid-19 shot once they qualify. Pattaya also has requested an allotment of Pfizer Comirnaty vaccines to administer to children ages 5-11.
Those vaccine doses are not available yet. Thailand only approved the budget for their purchase on Dec. 21.
In the interim, Sonthaya said people should spend their time continually testing themselves using antigen kits. He said this as he took his latest test before attending the Pattaya Countdown.
Sonthaya said boosters should lessen any serious effects of contracting the omicron variant. Around 80 percent of registered Pattaya residents are fully vaccinated. Even if they aren’t boosted, omicron should prove less of a threat than the coronavirus was a year ago, he said.