Ratchaburi – Thai Red Cross Society and its network partners rolled out COVID-19 vaccination for displaced persons at Ban Tham Hin Temporary Shelter in Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi Province. It has mobilized its resources to assist in the effort to reduce death rates and minimize the severity of illness as well as helping to build the immunity of the community.
Mr. Apichart Chinwanno, Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations of the Thai Red Cross Society, presided over the launch of the proactive vaccination rollout against COVID-19 for displaced persons. The governor of Ratchaburi province welcomed executives and representatives from the Thai Red Cross Society, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Federation of Red Cross, and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Thai Red Cross Society has cooperated with governmental and private agencies in the implementation of this vaccination rollout.
Mr. Grisada Boonrach, Assistant Secretary-General of the Thai Red Cross Society has defined the cooperation in the vaccination rollout against COVID-19 as a humanitarian operation to help alleviate suffering for fellow human beings who are in vulnerable situations. With the current crisis, it is imperative that all sectors effectively coordinate to assist all people living in Thailand, including Thais, migrants, and various ethnic groups. Special focus must be given to vulnerable people at risk of severe illness or death if infected with COVID-19 and those who have difficulty accessing health services.
The Sinopharm vaccine has been distributed by the Thai Red Cross to the Relief and Community Health Bureau for the inoculation of the vulnerable groups, both Thais and migrants irrespective of race, class, caste, or religion. This program of treatment is the result of cooperation between the Thai Red Cross Society, government agencies, private sectors, and various international humanitarian organizations. It has so far provided 18,211 doses of the Covid vaccine since September 2021.
Regarding the proactive COVID-19 vaccination for displaced persons at the Ban Tham Hin Temporary Shelter, the service is scheduled for the delivery of the first dose on October 25th and 26th. There are 1,295 persons to receive the service, under cooperation between the Thai Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Interior, Ratchaburi province, Suan Pheung Hospital, IRC, and UNHCR. The second dose service is scheduled for November 2021.
In this operation, the technological service system records the data of the vaccinated persons, with face verification and iris recognition to be applied. This system has been developed by NECTEC and iRespond, which is connected with the Ministry of Public Health’s “Moh Prom” application, in order to register vaccination for those who do not have Thai citizenship. The procedure is to temporarily set a personal ID for the vaccinated persons, starting with number 1, followed by a 13-digit number. In the future, when the Thai Red Cross Society receives additional vaccines, it will expand the service coverage to more groups of people in various areas across the country.
In this regard, The Thai Red Cross Society has received kind support from the mentioned agencies, all sectors of society, and public health volunteers.
Mr. Grisada Boonrach mentioned that besides the main objective to prevent the transmission of the disease and keep the COVID-19 death number low, the greatness of this mission is to lend a helping hand to fellow humans who are facing vulnerability despite their nationalities, classes, and religions. It is compassion and generosity extended to humankind, as stated by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Executive Vice President of the Thai Red Cross Society: “The work of the Red Cross Society, apart from helping those who are in need, is also about helping suffering people in general. It is true humanitarian work indeed. Therefore, it is the duty of everyone to work in order to help fellow humans in this world.”
The Thai Red Cross Society is hoping that the operations to help displaced persons this time will encourage continued cooperation on a humanitarian basis among all sectors, both national and international agencies. (NNT)
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