SooKee

28 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Good information.

This "on line" test and printout is news to me and possibly others. Please can you post a link.

I'm on a phone now, there is a link in the post I made about online testing being available to non-Thais in this forum.

2. Studies are currently underway for the use of MODERNA vaccine as a 3rd and 2nd dose in the United States and the United Kingdom comparing two brands (Heterologous) and single brand (Homologous). The study will take 1 year (starting June 2021). The results of the study are expected to come out periodically. It is not however currently considered to be standard advice. When the results of the study are published the hospital will inform you later.

3. At this time therefore the hospital accepts reservations for the primary series, a 2-dose, single brand (Homologous Prime/Boost) vaccine according to the manufacturer's standards only. If there is a change in the instructions The hospital will inform you in advance from time to time.

First is a bit wishy washy as it's merely pointing out that you're essentially opting out of the Government free route and opting to go private.

Second two are more relevant though, and especially the 3rd point. Essentially saying that while there are studies ongoing the results are not yet conclusive AND that the hospital accepts your registration on the basis of it being for a 2 dose / single brand treatment.  Thus, if you take it upon yourself to go and get AZ I suspect it's possible that the hospital could refuse to give you Moderna as you've breached the T&C.  They will know because the the vaccination database that they update is national, not local to the hospital.  

On that basis I plan to wait it out and hope I get lucky with the Moderna order.

Forgot to mention, I took (and they accepted) just one Certificate of Residence and one Medical Certificate with a copy of each (which I didn't sign in this case, and neither did they ask me to) attached to the second application (I was applying for car and bike).

The Residence Certificate is valid for a year and the Medical for 30 days though there is a dispensation allowing the latter to be used until 30 September if it has already expired (this is due to the fact that the DLTs had suspended service previously and they didn't want people to have to pay again for a fresh document), not sure though how long the Medical can have expired to use this dispensation, probably tied to the closures earlier this year.

As I mentioned in a previous post, foreigners can now do the online training and test which was previously for Thai nationals only but up to now you can't use the pass certificate to register on the DLT Smart Queue app as it still doesn't work for passports.  I just printed out my screenshots and attached one to each set of documents.

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

I interpreted Dr. Chalerm's (BCH) comments as there was interest in up to 7.7 mm doses, and not that 7.7 mm doses have been paid for. I expressed an interest in ~ 20 doses, but only prepaid for two. But he also said demand was measured at 9.2 mm doses.

 

Most things are not as the appear here, so my interpretation could be wrong.

 

As above, not sure this is correct.

 

 

But his math in that article was quite convoluted. 

 

I feel like the mark in the 3 card monty game, with Dr. Chalerm as the dealer.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, it's only guess work.  Not unreasonable to think that the private hospitials sought to acquire 7.7 million doses in total, the rest of the figures would then pan out.  It's also not unreasonable to believe that the hospitals that were serious about procurement took the payment for it in advance, I'm not sure how many hospitals would wish to order unless they had the money in the bank.   The way things work here we'll never know, too much smoke and mirrors.  All academic at the end of the day, people will either get their ticket from the lottery or won't.  The only issue for me is whether or not to give up a confirmed AZ appointment in favour of Moderna that you might not get, regardless of the figures or theories.

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Latest reports: It's 1.1 mm and it's coming out of the 5 mm supposedly sold to customers.

 

No clue who paid for these 1.1 mm doses?

 

So that leaves 3.9 mm doses for private hospitals.

 

Now private hospitals have to figure out what to do. Refund money paid? Administer just one dose?

 

And quite obviously, the regime could seize all these Moderna vaccines, national security, and dispense them as they see fit.

 

Suspected this one would get ugly, just not this fast, nor this ugly.

 

 

 

 

From an article in the BP on Moderna allocation, private hospitals ordered a total of 7.7 million doses so that needs to be cut by 3.7 million for starters even the Red Cross have got 1 million of the 5 million doses on order.  There's 277 hospitals with a standard allocation of 10,000 per hospital, 194 hospitals will get their full allocation as they ordered less than 10K, the other 83 will receive a minimum of 10,000 plus a share of the balance.  Only in Thailand eh LOL.  Assuming of course nothing else changes.  So registering at well known, popular hospitals may also have been a mistake.  So, approx 12.7 billion baht paid for yet to arrive vaccines, from which the unlucky 1.8 million people will try to get their refunds.

2 hours ago, Basch said:

Thanks everyone for the feedback, would be nice to keep this topic updated. Good luck with the decision and allotment. 

 

Just saw this:

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2150439/moderna-shots-to-be-allotted

This is precisely my concern with the Moderna jabs, just how many doses will each of the participating hospitals get AND how far down their queue are you (and do you feature in their unpublished list of priorities if they need to start cutting back other than on a first come, first served basis), worsened by the fact that the Red Cross are suddenly getting 20% of the quota, reducing availability to the private hospitals from 5 to 4 million, assuming there's no-one else going to be chipping away at the delivery.  I thought the Red Cross procurement was on top of the 5 million (originally 9 million) doses the hospitals were expecting. At the moment I'm only 50/50 on my chances of getting what we've paid for.

Something else that's dawned on me, I wonder if taking the decision to mix vaccines yourself (outside of what your health authority policy is, which here is either two of the same OR Sinovac plus AZ) would have the potential to invalidate any health insurance you may have should you be unfortunate enough to need a covid related admission? When I booked for Moderna the hospital actually had an advisory warning against taking Moderna on top of another jab.  Unless it's medically necessary AND approved by a registered doctor, anything you take it upon YOURSELF to do could be viewed as increasing your level of risk without the authority of the company should they wish to avoid payment.  Small risk maybe.

I've seen a picture somewhere of what looked like a fairly in depth certificate which had a lot of detail on it.  Question is whether they produce that from a locally held hospital record or whether they have to update a central database, the latter would make more sense, but TIT.  While it would be our choice I suspect, if we pay for Moderna, in my case the payment includes insurance for complications arising.  That might be null and void if doing a DIY cocktail (which the site actually warned against when booking) and if the vac record does come from a central database they may well decline to do it I suppose.  I'd agree though, 2 x AZ and 2 x Moderna within 8-12 months is a lot.  There may well be more clinical trial results to come to on mixing specific brands.

Useful discussion though.  Helps to get the thoughts on paper (albeit virtual).  I think that if I go and get an AZ shot now I'll be glad that I did, when the Moderna arrives however, I'll wish that I hadn't.  At the end of the day I think it's a case of balancing how much at risk you are of being infected (e.g. how often you come into contact with people and how many) whereby AZ, even one dose, will reduce the chances of death or needing to be hospitalised) vs being able to avoid the virus to await a higher quality vaccine that will provide a vaccination record that's acceptable world wide.  The higher the risk of infection the more pressing the reason to get vaccinated ASAP. On balance, think I'll take the risk and wait it out to get two shots of Moderna.  I will be SO bloody mad if it all falls through.  Fingers crossed it's the right decision LOL.

11 minutes ago, CANSIAM said:

I think at the moment anyway,  2 AstraZeneca doses will look much better on certificates / travel documentation than a mixed blend.  Mixing with a better juice can be done months after your 2nd AZ,  my forward plan anyway...... ......... 

Could be an option.  AZ now, 2nd dose end September.  Then, provided they'll do it, Moderna in Oct - Dec with 2nd dose Feb to March.  That's some heavy dosing LOL.

Pondering the same here.  I have booked and paid for Moderna and, overall, I would rather have two doses of Moderna than a DIY cocktail.  I know it's been done elsewhere but it's still me deciding to it as opposed to being a public health authority (in a country where you can trust such authorities more as opposed to Tin Pot Alley).  The main concern I have though is that there will be a problem with the Moderna booking (e.g. not enough, pilfered by the pigs at Trough Central or whatever) and that it will all fall through.  That will then be 3-5 months wasted by which time AZ could have been built up to a higher degree of protection.  Choosing to risk it and stay out the way for those 3-5 months is still an option, we are pretty much self isolating anyway, but the situation here is deteriorating rapidly and will likely get much worse.  I still do wonder though if this thinking is something I'm doing to persuade myself to go and get an AZ jab first.  On the other hand, waiting for Moderna could be somewhat foolhardy given the situation here, yes we stay out the way but if Covid gets to the stage where it's rampant, even if it's not there already, you could even catch it from a simple food buying trip. 

The other concern though is the vaccine record and indeed whether the Moderna hospital will baulk at giving me the Moderna shots (despite having paid) if they know I've had AZ.  I would suspect that your vaccine record will be on a central database (but then again TIT) and while I'm not bothered about what Thailand does or doesn't recognise (or how many dummies they trot out to support covid cocktailing) I am also concerned about whether AZ plus two doses of Moderna would be recognised by other countries as fully vaccinated or whether the AZ shot would be considered to have mucked up the Moderna vaccinations, especially given that it will be the local AZ which, AFAIK, is not on the 'acceptable' list for some countries..  

Change my mind daily on it TBH but with all these 'quick, register here for an AZ shot' opportunities I do wonder if that would be the best option.  3 months (minimum) could be a long time in a country where infections are rapidly outpacing vaccinations, even more so if it pans out to 5-6 and Thailand gets into a state of crisis.  Yesterday, I was adamant that I'd just wait for Moderna, staying out the way as normal, today I'll likely change my mind again LOL.  Of course the one very big plus to taking AZ is that if the Moderna deal does fall through, I will at least be vaccinated with AZ (even though it would be with an unacceptable brand of AZ in some countries). 

Do they realise that announcing 20 times (and then some!) that the US is donating 1.5 million doses doesn't make it 30 million doses?  Seems to be a trend here, repeatedly announce the same 'intent to order' time and time again to create the impression they are doing way more than they really are.

Sinovac is widely used eh?  Where exactly?

2 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

I agree with your comments on the video, and yes the first question was asked again at the end of the video. I screenshot the pass certificate at the end of the video.

 

Last week my wife called the Department (Land Transport), as my licence was about to expire this week. She was told I had to go to book an appointment to renew in person (also at Bangjak) and I could drive on the expired license until 30 September - I don't know why that date.

 

 

I got to Bank Chak around 8:15am.  Not many people there and no queue for the info desk.  Wrote my details in the appointment book and filled in a reminder ticket which also serves as your queue ticket when you go back.  Appointment date may be a month or two but she flipped through the book and found me a cancellation for next month.  30 September is merely the latest grace period date that DLT has announced up until which you can used expired documents, a covid extension as such, that includes driving licences and medical certificates, the latter of which will otherwise have expired within 30 days.  

If you go to Mo Chit DLT I believe you can still renew without making a booking and, as you have done the online training / test it should be easier and quicker as you're now having to wait to do that.  However, it's busy there and you will be waiting amongst Thai nationals also waiting to renew so depends how many got there before you on the day.  Get their really early is the advice I've been given.  The other problem is, Mo Chit only opened today (16 July) following being closed for 2 weeks after a covid case was discovered and they have now reduced their daily  queue limit to 20.  Knowing my luck I'd arrive at 07:30 and be number 21!  Already having a booking at Bang Chak I'm not inclined to go to Mo Chit, my sole concern being that the covid situation will get worse and the DLTs will suspend service AGAIN!

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I cannot see a problem using your new passport and TM6 numbers to do new online TM30 report using the same registration for the online site.

There is no longer a requirement to do a new TM30 report everytime you enter the country unless you enter with a new visa. Other than entering the country with new visa the only time one is required is if you change your address.

Thanks, this was my understanding too TBH, returning with a multiple re-entry stamp on an extension issued on the same original visa doesn't require a new TM30 unless you move address, this is in line with what I was told by an IO supervisor at CW years back.  That's why I was a bit surprised when the staffer told me I should update the paper TM30 that was still in my old passport, following my last re-entry last year.  That said, I'm long past actually expecting staff to always give you the correct information, as opposed to what they just think.  Given the TM30 process was so simple on the app though I have still been doing them, just in case.  

I might try a new entry just to get the passport details lined up, the only snag I can think of is using the TM6 where, IIRC, it says you must make the entry within 24 (or 48) hours of your date of entry.  It's so long since I've looked at the site I can't really recall.

Has anyone come across a way to do this or is it a trip to Immigration.  I went for a Certificate of Residence recently with a new passport and, while the IO wasn't bothered as such (e.g. she said just do it online when you get the time), she did ask if I had updated my TM30 having re-entered the country (numerous times) since the original paper report was done at CW 5 years ago.  As it happens I had started doing it on the TM30 app and was able to show her the screen following the update corresponding with my Last stamp.  The only issue (again, the IO didn't make it one) was that the TM30 entry contains my old passport number and the TM6 number.  I asked her what to do about it and she just said continue to use it (which I suspect was a 'get rid of the problem I don't know the answer to' response).

Has anyone come across this before?  I did ponder effectively just registering again with the new passport but I'm not sure if there's a way to delete the old entry.  I was also concerned it would create some glitch with the TM6 number being registered with another entry.  Ideally there would be an update passport option on the existing entry but I can't find a way to do it.

Last day for the lottery was today it seems.  Had they intended to keep their allocation for patients they would have been far better engaging the brain in the first place IMO rather than running the fiasco they've been running the last 5 days.  By far the worst process of any of the hospitals offering Moderna registration, won't have done their reputation any favours.

Quick update on this.  Both the guys who registered today at Payathai 2 just received SMS message appointments for 20th July.