A place of worship and vaccination

As churches in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, and almost all in the Archdiocese of Bangkok are closed for weekly and Sunday Mass, the pastor of Holy Redeemer Church has offered the church to be a vaccination center.

The church is located near Bangkok’s biggest slum, where health officials are rushing to vaccinate thousands of people as new COVID-19 cases spread through densely populated low-income areas adjacent to the capital’s central business district.

A vaccination center at a church in Bangkok

The Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok hosts a vaccination center amidst the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Bangkok so far since the start of the pandemic (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

_{Background photo: Vaccinations taking place in the community hall of the Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church)}

The current outbreak spread from the city's night entertainment spots to Klong Toey district where more than one hundred thousand people live in a square mile area.

Health workers are trying to vaccinate up to three thousand residents of the area per day, hoping to have at least 50,000 people inoculated within two weeks.

They have been looking for a suitably large space to use as the vaccination center.

Local residents wait to receive COVID-19 vaccine at the community hall of the Holy Redeemer Church (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

Local residents wait to receive COVID-19 vaccine at the community hall of the Holy Redeemer Church (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

The pastor, Fr. John Wirach Amonpattana encouraged people to get vaccinated today by being one of the first to get vaccinated and quoted Pope Francis who said on January 10th this year, “I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine.”

There have been some concerns in the local community about the safety of some vaccines.

Fr. John Wirach Amonpattana, pastor of the Holy Redeemer Church, encouraged people to get vaccinated today by being one of the first to get vaccinated (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

Fr. John Wirach Amonpattana, pastor of the Holy Redeemer Church, encouraged people to get vaccinated today by being one of the first to get vaccinated (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

The Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok is famous for its traditional Thai architecture. It has no air conditioning, but the side doors are always open allowing excellent ventilation a benefit in during the Thai summer and now for minimizing the risk of spreading coronavirus.

^{Background photo: The Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok (Photo by George Ritinsky)}

Vaccinations taking place in the community hall of the Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church)

The Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok, Thailand

Pre-vaccination checks at a COVID-19 vaccination center

Pre-vaccination checks at the COVID-19 vaccination center hosted by the Holy Redeemer Church (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

COVID-19 vaccine being administered in Bangkok

COVID-19 vaccine being administered at the vaccination center, Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok (Photo supplied)

Thailand has recently been reporting about 2,000 new cases a day, often with double-digit deaths in the third and worst mass outbreak since the pandemic started.

The South East Asian country had previously managed to control the spread of the virus by closing its borders to almost all travelers and imposing lengthy mandatory quarantines as entry requirement.

To date, Thailand has reportedly vaccinated only 2% of its almost 70 million population.

Medical personnel at the COVID-19 vaccination center hosted by the Holy Redeemer Church (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

Medical personnel at the COVID-19 vaccination center hosted by the Holy Redeemer Church (Photo by Holy Redeemer Church, Bangkok)

Published May 8, 2021