cormanr7

20 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

3 adults in my household, Sinovac then Astra, no side effects whatsoever, it was a breeze.

This article gives a brief overview of the most common side effects of four vaccines (AZ, Pfizer, Moderna and JJ) https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/08/17/covid-vaccines-what-are-the-potential-side-effects-from-having-them-and-how-do-they-compar. It is not very particular on how many percent of recipients suffer side-effects ('more than 10%'). Whether someone will experience side effects is virtually impossible to predict. 

For myself, the first AZ shot had little impact, but after the 2nd (11 weeks later on Sept 7th) I had an uncomfortable night with chills and generally not feeling well but no fever. Next morning it was gone.

42 minutes ago, rabas said:

It's hard to view AZ as best while it suffers the most from adenovirus (AV) anti-vector response.

Yes, but for the moment it looks that protection for AZ is waning slower than Pfizer and though the latter starts at a higher value, the lines may actually cross in some point in the future (see this comment in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02261-8#ref-CR1 and a pre-print of the actual article referred to: https://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/files/coronavirus/covid-19-infection-survey/finalfinalcombinedve20210816.pdf . We'll have to see. Oh, and I am aware that some of the authors come from Oxford Univ. 

3 hours ago, Caldera said:

That's going to be troublesome, in both directions. I'm in the process of getting vaccinated in Thailand, so the Thai certificate won't be a problem for me. But back home, the EU's version of a digital health pass is needed to visit restaurants and such, and it remains to be seen if/how I'll be able to get that when traveling there. 

Indeed, for instance, the Netherlands does not recognize the Siam Bioscience produced AZ vaccine as it has not (yet?) been registered at/approved by the EMA. Officially this applies to all EU countries but in the end they can decide to overrule this.

If you got an approved AZ vaccine outside the EU, for instance one produced in South Korea (SK-...... code) and a vaccine passport with the details, after arrival you can call a number in Utrecht, make an appointment. For this you have to be a Dutch national of live in The Netherlands. Then need to go there and they will enter you in the CoronaCheck app (a digital certificate with a QR code, part of the EU DCC set-up) than can be used both domestically and other EU countries (in Dutch: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-covid-19/coronabewijs/ vaccinatiebewijs/gevaccineerd-in-het-buitenland). I assume other countries have something similar.

If you have a non-valid vaccine passport/certificate (e.g. With Thai AZ shots)  you can still travel back to Europe (at the very least to your 'home' country) subject to pre-flights test, possible quarantine on arrival (home quarantine for 10 days in the Netherlands) etc. but you may not be able to enter various venues and travel to other countries may be difficult. A list of the officially approved vaccines is shown at  https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-covid-19/nederland-inreizen/eisen-vaccinatiebewijs-voor-reizigers-naar-nederland. Should be an English version somewhere. Interestingly, unlike AZ produced in Thailand, Malaysia and some other places, Sinovac and Sinopharm seem OK. 

Morale: check very carefully what rules are applicable for your destination country and if they have an Embassy/consulate in Thailand call them. 

After reading some comments in forum posts, I installed the mor phrom app and found out that my 2nd AZ shot at PhyaThai 2 was now scheduled for 7 rather than 14 Sept at 09.00. Never received an SMS, wonder how many people will miss their revised appointment as many do not have mor phrom and maybe not get an SMS either.

Arrived at  9th floor parking building at 08.00. At 08.15 they started to collect ID cards/passports in batches of ten. Then to the first computer desk where some details are typed in and you get a number. They will then hand you a form where you tick off some health questions and agree to receive the vaccine. Then on to the next station where someone will type in details using the aforementioned form and check your temp. No blood pressure reading. Then straight to the vaccination booth. Move on to the observation room, got there at 08.30. Only a 20 min wait this time, then they will call your number/name and give you a slip that is your vaccination certificate. Walked out at 08.50.

Noteworthy: I only saw two foreigners as opposed to the first shot where the bulk consisted of foreigners. The lay-out of the room was different from the first shot, apparently they only do 2nd shots for the moment. Water is provided at various points.

All in all another very good experience with lots of helpful people.

4 hours ago, Whale said:

Unvaccinated visitors from Thailand will not be allowed to enter xxxx.

Fully vaccinated visitors from Thailand can enter xxxxxx without restrictions.

 

But they don't tell you Thai vaccines are not recognised so even if fully vaccinated here, they regards us as not vaccinated. 

The Dutch Embassy here in Bangkok says that the Siam Bioscience AZ vaccine is NOT recognized by the EMA and a Thai vaccine passport showing two AZ shots is not valid for travel to Holland. The only recognized AZ vaccines are those made in the EU, Australia, Japan and South Korea. However, EU countries can make their own rules so check carefully with your embassy. Without a valid vaccine passport (like the EU DCC) it can be difficult to travel between many EU countries and furthermore, some venues require it for admission.

The EU covid digital passport does not show your passport (read travel document) number, neither is it required for travel to Europe when showing a paper vaccine passport. More importantly, when travelling to Europe, many countries will NOT recognize the Siam Bioscience AZ vaccine as it has not been approved by the EMA (confirmed by, for instance, the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok), though some countries may follow their own rules. The officially approved vaccines are shown below (https://www.government.nl/topics/c/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/requirements-for-proof-of-vaccination).

   According to AZ-Thailand 'the company is currently applying for a registration of the name Vaxzevria for use with the COVID-19 vaccine. The name Vaxzevria has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and several other countries.' (https://www.astrazeneca.com/country-sites/thailand/press-release/travelling-with-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-made-in-thailand.html).  This website  claims that the Thai AZ product is accepted in France and Germany but the links are not very clear.

Note that if a particular vaccine is not accepted, this can seriously limit your ability to travel to/within Europe and require additional PCR tests and the like, so check carefully.

The vaccine you received must have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or be on the Emergency Use Listing of the World Health Organization (WHO). This is currently the case for the following vaccines:

• Astra Zeneca EU (Vaxzevria) ;
• Astra Zeneca - Japan (Vaxzevria);
• Astra Zeneca - Australia (Vaxzevria);
• Astra Zeneca-SK Bio (Vaxzevria);
• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine - United States of America;
• Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty);
• Johnson & Johnson ((COVID-19 Vaccine) Janssen);
• Moderna (Spikevax);
• Serum Institute of India (Covishield);
• Sinopharm BIBP;
• Sinovac.

1 hour ago, cormanr7 said:

I also had my first shot at Phyathai 2 on June 22nd with the second shot scheduled for Sept. 14th. Unlike some others, haven't heard anything yet (either by SMS or email). 

Update. Registered for mor phrom which is easy as the input fields are in both Thai and English. Input the 13 number ID that is displayed on the slip you got after your first vaccination and choose password, get an OTP.

When the app opens it is all in Thai but not difficult to comprehend. The first clickable link (with the syringe) takes you to a page that displays details of your first shot. Click arrow at the bottom, this will take you to the next page where the date for your 2nd shot will appear. Mine is Sept 7th in the morning, one week earlier than the original appointment (Sept 14th). Still no notification by SMS/email.

I also had my first shot at Phyathai 2 on June 22nd with the second shot scheduled for Sept. 14th. Unlike some others, haven't heard anything yet (either by SMS or email). 

Today (Sept. 1st) and according to flight tracker sites (like flightradar24), there have been a number of domestic flights. For instance, Vietjet Air, Bangkok Aw and Thai Smile (to Suvanabhumi) and Nok (to Don Meuang) had a single flight from BKK to Phuket vv , whereas Vietjet Air had one to Surat, with another by Nok later this day. So frequency is low and it appears that this morning Nok had a DHC-8 rather than a B737 on a DMK flight to/from Chiang Mai. In the case of Phuket, Thai Lionair and AirAsia are supposed to start on Sept 2nd and 3rd, respectively. So there are some domestic flights now, flying TO Bangkok is presumably easy in terms of restrictions but the other way may be problematic, in particular to Phuket. I would book late as nobody knows what will happen in a few days and getting your money back (and then maybe only just in the form of a voucher which is not really useful) maybe difficult.

5 hours ago, superal said:

Any mention of domestic flights opening (HKT<>BKK particularly)? I used the search function but couldn't check all 15 pages of this thread ???? (Bloomberg said that domestic flights opening is included in this new set of relaxing rules)

As of today various airlines show flights to/from Phuket (initially starting with very low frequencies) from early September. For instance, AirAsia is supposed to have one HKT-BKK flight/day from September 3rd, Thai Lionair one flight a day from Sept 2nd., etc. However, Phuket makes it own rules, and flight schedules sometimes change by the day.  I guess we'll know more in a few days. Other domestic flights are also supposed to start early September.

I have gotten a Sinovac shot 11 days ago and now I'm offered Phizer tomorrow, can I take it?

16 hours ago, bubblegum said:

I have gotten a Sinovac shot 11 days ago and now I'm offered Phizer tomorrow, can I take it?

The standard method here appears to be an interval of 3 weeks for an initial Sinovac shot followed by either AZ (I have a Thai friend in Phuket who got this) or Pfizer. I think this is loosely based on the standard 3 week interval between two Sinovac shots. As one shot of Sinovac reportedly offers very little protection I think you should be OK. However, did you inform whoever is given the Pfizer shot that you had the Sinovac less than two weeks ago?  They could/should have better advice, don't hide the details of a previous shot! 

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

Must be close to 15,000 ATK positives in the last week. Official daily infection numbers does not indicate these are ever being included. Testing remains plateaued as do infection numbers.

That depends, it is possible that those that tested positive by an antigen test are subsequently tested by PCR. 

KLM had originally planned to start direct AMS-Phuket flights in October. This plan has now been cancelled according to luchtvaartnieuws.nl (in Dutch), which tends to be well informed. Reason given (freely translated): 'present conditions do not warrant starting flights on this route'

Finnair will operate (seasonal?) flights to Helsinki from Phuket starting Nov 1 with frequency ranging from two to four flights per week depending on the period. For the moment, planned flights to Krabi are also still on, starting end of Nov (source finnair.com). Whether these flights to southern Thailand will actually take place will depend on the covid situation.

On 8/19/2021 at 8:30 PM, richard_smith237 said:

IATA have been trialing a their 'IATA Travel Pass’ which is currently only available by invitation (I’m not sure why).... 

It seems to be difficult to upload vaccination data to the IATA pass (possibly due to the endless number of national vaccine passports and the difficulty of varying these data). If you have a EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) or UK NHS COVID pass you can now upload it to the IATA pass app

 https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2021-releases/2021-08-19-012/.

But what happens if you arrive in Europe with a sheet from a hospital and/or the 50 Baht Thai COVID vaccination passport (assuming that they have let you board in the first place). After arrival they scan the QR code and then get something like 'website not available'. 

I think that yesterday there were about 50,000 tests so the positivity rate is more than 40% which must be one of the highest in the world. Various data are shown at https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/,  the number of tests is the last bloc in brown.

On 8/3/2021 at 2:52 PM, FritsSikkink said:

The 3 around me have no problems at all, the ones around you too. Sounds to me that your statement is a bit misleading about 7 elevens in Bangkok.

Well, note than that from the five 7-11s areas nearest my apartment (Ladphrao area), four have major supply problems and the 5th closed a week ago. So in some areas there are definitely problems with many empty shelves, not sure how the distribution is arranged.

22 hours ago, Crossy said:

Note the Bang Sue Grand is currently a covid vaxx centre, navigating the station might be problematic.

No it is not, Thursday coming back from MTT went on the red line at Laksi (one stop from DMK) to Bang Sue (where you arrive at the 2nd floor), then follow the signs to the MRT, which requires going down some escalators and a short walk (120 m) through a tunnel. When you get on the red line you have to scan a QR code or write your name and destination. Free for the first 3 months, frequency is low outside rush hours (every 30 min, 15 min at peak times).

Empty shelves in 7-11s seems to be a common problem now. In my area (Ladphrao) I checked the nearest five 7-11s and all have problems. Three of these are situated on the main Ladphrao road itself, and one of these has actually closed a few days ago (not sure if this is due to cost-cutting, covid among staff, ...), the others are inside various sois. Things like meals, yoghurt, bread and a host of other items are delivered in tiny amounts (if at all) and sell out in no time.

After having done on-line 90-day reports for some time, last week I got the notification to go to the office. This was apparently due to the fact that they had not updated my new extension of stay date though it was listed on my previous 90-day on-line report in early May. So I was on '70 day or so overstay'  in the system. Went to MTT, arrived at ca 08.30. Small copy shop at the entrance, 2 Baht/page, same as CW (and same terrible quality by the way). Signs point to the A counter in a parking lot 2nd floor where you get a que number. Mine was in the high sixties. There is seating for ca 60 persons or so. People are called in batches of ten. They were just starting when I got my que number and it took about 40 min to reach the counter. Actual process took less than a minute, only passport and TM.47 required (but bring a print of your last 90 day approval just in case). MTT is a bit in the middle of nowhere but lots of taxis. A taxi to the new Red Line Laksi station is less than 80 B (little bit more the other way as there a U-turn on CW road required). Nice flashy train (free for the moment) but only goes twice an hour outside peak periods. At Bang Sue Grand Station you can follow the signs to the MRT Blue Line.  

As noted above, there is presently no air of bus transport to Phuket from Bangkok. Some airlines stubbornly maintain that they will be flying again on the 2nd of August. However, Thai AirAsia has just announced a further suspension to August 8th https://newsroom.airasia.com/news/travel-advisory-temporary-hibernation-of-airasia-thailand-flights. Although I have no info to support this, i think it is likely that there will be another ban of at least two weeks after August 2nd. In principle if anyone has 'a good reason' to travel they could enter Phuket by private car subject to the mandatory PCR test AND having had one (AZ) or (Sinovac) two vaccinations at least 14 days before travel https://www.tatnews.org/2021/07/measures-for-domestic-travel-to-phuket-during-15-31-july-2021/. Not sure if this is viable if you are not a resident of Phuket.

Unable to do my 90 report on-line as they have not updated my extension of stay date (they still have May 2021 instead of 2022). So unfortunately next week have to make the trip to MTT. It appears that the on-line booking system is still down. Questions: 1) is there a public copy shop in the building a la CW. 2) any suggestion regarding the best (read usually quietest) time for a visit?

Thanks in advance.  

You might try the (free) extreme download manager 2020 (XDM 2020), it is very fast for youtube videos and also quite effective as a general video manager. Apparently quite a few people use XDM as an alternative to the (paid) IDM.

On 7/22/2021 at 7:39 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

I've got a HL-1110 which I've been using for a couple of years now and am very happy with it, although I don't print the same volume of paper as you. It's attached to an Asus RT-AC86U router via one of the router's USB ports, allowing it to be configured as a "network" printer even though it is not ethernet or WiFi enabled. 

I also got the Brother HL-1110 but print quality is terrible and I have to set the density at the darkest point to get a barely acceptable output. Apart from that it gets extremely hot in a manner of minutes.

Yes, it is cheap (ca 1,500 Baht a few years ago) but IMO that is reflected in the quality. 

Maybe the following should bring tears to some eyes: https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/16/uk-records-51-000-new-covid-cases-highest-daily-tally-since-january

Israeli Govt data regarding the Pfizer vaccine. 'From May 2 to June 5, the efficacy rate in preventing hospitalization was 98.2%, compared with 93% from June 6 to July 3. A similar decline in the rate was recorded for the vaccine’s efficiency in preventing serious illness among people who had been inoculated'. https://fortune.com/2021/07/05/israel-data-plunge-efficacy-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-delta-variant/. Data from the UK (which do not distinguish between AZ and Pfizer vaccines) claim an effectiveness (period April 12-June 4) against hospitalization of 96% (CI 91-98) and 79% (CI 78-80%) against symptomatic disease https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000512/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_27.pdf. This report is quite extensive with lots of interesting graphs.

In vitro studies by the Univ of Texas with serum from people that had received two injections of Pfizer vaccine confirm that there is a strong reduction in the neutralization of the the B.1.617.1 (=Delta) variant relative to neutralization of the wild-type virus but not with other variants. However, at sufficiently high serum levels, the Delta variant could be neutralized completely https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03693-y.

Overall these data suggest that vaccination is still highly effective, but some fully vaccinated people do end up in hospital and some die.