Wheelchair shortage as elderly flock to Bang Sue station for jabs

>>Large numbers of elderly Bangkokians have been making the trip to the walk-in vaccination service at Bang Sue Grand Station, causing a shortage of wheelchairs.

Sorapong Paitoonphong, deputy permanent secretary for transport, said over-75s have been turning up en masse each morning for their Covid19 vaccinations.

Staff realised the the station’s 200 wheelchairs would be insufficient and put out the call for more.

The elderly have been granted special dispensation to use the service without prior appointment from June 30 to July 18 between 9.30am and 6pm.

Mr Sorapong said the station is seeking extra wheelchairs from other agencies, while private and state organisations also have responded to their plea.

He apologised for any inconvenience and recommended afternoon visits instead as this was a relatively quiet period with few people turning up to receive their injections.

The Bang Sue Grand Station facility has been giving over 20,000 jabs a day, of whom 4,000 have been senior citizens, he said.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Covid19 Situation Administration (CCSA) yesterday reported 41 more Covid-19 deaths and 6,230 new cases, bringing the overall totals to 2,182 fatalities and 277,151 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Of the new infections, 5,936 were among the public and 294 were found in prisons.

Since the third wave began in April, there have been 248,288 infections and 190,073 recoveries, the CCSA reported.