The Rural Doctor Society (RDS) has endorsed a proposal by a senior doctor at Ramathibodi Hospital urging the government to allocate about 1 billion baht towards subsidizing elderly visits to COVID vaccination centers.
The notion was proposed by Dr Vijj Kasemsup, a doctor with the Department of Community Medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital’s Faculty of Medicine.
Dr Vijj suggested that the government cover the cost of transporting senior citizens to vaccination centers, noting that the cost of covering half of all unvaccinated seniors would be much lower than for ICU treatments.
According to the RDS, senior citizens with underlying health conditions accounted for more than 90% of COVID deaths in the first quarter of 2022.
With the number of daily COVID fatalities exceeding 100 in recent days, the group is urging the government to act quickly to get more people vaccinated. It also predicts that the number of people requiring supplemental oxygen will climb during and after the Songkran festival.
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) had previously proposed a similar scheme to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), but it was rejected due to cost concerns. (NNT)
 |
 |
 |
