Usually late May is a busy time for Chiang Mai International Rotary Club as children return to school and our service projects kick-off for a new school year. But not this year. School reopening is delayed. Private schools are online. Chiang Mai is in a type of lockdown. The effect on the local economy is devastating and apparent to anyone driving or walking in the city. While some venues are open, people are reluctant to venture out because the current Covid variant is virulent.
Fortunately, we have Zoom for our meetings and it's proven to be a great way to keep up with members overseas. Some have been "trapped" there for over a year. And, of course, we are using it now for meetings with our local partners, also.
The Thai government is moving closer to getting "shots in the arms" of people, but every day has been full of conflicting government announcements in May. At first we thought they were just jerking around the foreign residents, but we've come to realize that the Thai people are as confused. This being said, my most recent best recommendation is that foreigners resident in Chiang Mai province register their desire to receive a Covid-19 vaccination via this form: www.cm-healthcare.net/CMCVR/ If you don't receive a confirmation email soon after completing the form, then you didn't succeed, so do it again. If you went to one of the superstores and "registered" but didn't get a confirmed vaccination appointment, then they probably just binned your information. Please click on the link above and "register" again. Why bother? Soon, the kids will be back in school and we'll be able to do the School Vision Screening Project. The kids won't be able to receive the Covid-19 vaccine (no vaccine is approved for children), won't show symptoms, but will be able to spread the disease. The average age of our club members is 70.5 years. So far, none (to our knowledge) of us have contracted Covid-19. The outcome might not be good if we do.