Thai campaign to vaccinate schoolchildren makes progress

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Health officials in the Thai capital have made headway in their effort to vaccinate children against the coronavirus, giving shots of the Pfizer vaccine to students aged 12 to 18 with underlying diseases. Vaccinations for that age bracket were first offered last month through hospitals, but now are being arranged by schools. Many chools have been closed for onsite learning since last December, and Bangkok’s governor says he does not want to allow them to reopen until 70% of a total of more than 1 million students are vaccinated, a goal he hopes can be reached by November. The Health Ministry plans to give Pfizer shots to students aged 12 to 18 nationwide from Oct. 4.