Necessary to have flu/pneumonia vaccine?

[homeseeker]

Recently a company ostensibly acting for a well known hospital in BKK have asked if I wanted a home visit for flu vaccine and Pneumonia vaccine:

 

" Flu Vaccine - 900 Thb + Service charge - 900 Thb per visit = 1,800 THB

 

 

Pneumonia Vaccine - 3,500 Thb  + Service charge - 900 Thb = 4,400 THB

 

 

Flu Vaccine + Pnuemonia Vaccine - 4000 thb + 900 - Service charge = 4,900 THB"

 

 

 

-Does anyone have any input/comment about this?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

 

 

[Crossy]

Was it a cold call or are you already registered as a patient at the hospital? (pun not intended, honest)

 

Are you in an "at risk" group due to age or underlying conditions?

 

[cmarshall]

Flu shot is highly recommended.  I got the same call from that hospital hawking their service.  I will get the shot, but not from them if I can find it cheaper.

[homeseeker]

18 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Was it a cold call or are you already registered as a patient at the hospital? (pun not intended, honest)

 

Are you in an "at risk" group due to age or underlying conditions?

 

Yes I am registered at this hospital though due to age maybe "at risk" but fit and healthy....so...

Edited May 16, 2020 by homeseeker

[Crossy]

1 minute ago, homeseeker said:

Yes I am registered at this hospital though due to age maybe "at risk"but fit and healthy....so...

 

As noted, recommended but it's entirely up to you.

 

Madam had hers a couple of months back, I've never bothered but as I get older, maybe next year.

[Sheryl]

Recommended if over 65 years old (even if healthy) or any age if suffering from certain chronic diseases.

 

The prices you were quoted are just a bit higher than elsewhere, and for the combo, cheaper, assuming by "pneumonia" vaccine they mean Prevnar 13 - note that there are 2 pneumonia vaccines, Prevnar 13 and  Penumovax 23, should be given a year apart and both are one time injections.

 

It is the charge for the home visit that makes it costly

 

If willing to go to a clinic these are the 2 least expensive options in Bangkok:

https://www.medconsultasia.com/vaccinations

https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/cost.html

 

Note too that there are 2 flu vaccines, "southern" and "northern" hemisphere, for Thailand you need Southern.

[lopburi3]

Currently Vejthani Hospital is offering Southern Hemisphere 4 flu vaccine for 690 baht including all charges until May 31.

[Raphus]

Not being a scare monger or harbinger of doom.

But there needs to be more research against the statistics of those people at risk whom had flu jabs and the correlation of those that caught covid. The stats are out there for you to find. 

But there seems to be a link.

Make sure you actually need it before going ahead.

[chuang]

If you are elderly go for the neumococo vaccine

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Quote

Pneumonia Vaccine - 3,500 Thb  + Service charge - 900 Thb = 4,400 THB

 

In Canada, my Pneumovax 23 shot was CA$165/3800 baht last fall. So the 3500 baht fee is cheaper. However, as Sheryl mentions, the service charge puts it at over CA$190. A bit expensive, compared to a taxi fare of something like a 100 baht or so to the unnamed hospital. 

 

My next one this fall (Prevnar 13) should be free as I got my first shot before a new regulation made the vaccine free for us wisemen. They're always looking to reduce hospital admissions so many serious vaccines are free. 

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Raphus said:

Not being a scare monger or harbinger of doom.

But there needs to be more research against the statistics of those people at risk whom had flu jabs and the correlation of those that caught covid. The stats are out there for you to find. 

But there seems to be a link.

Make sure you actually need it before going ahead.

There is no evidence of a correlation between flu vaccine and COVID when age is controlled for.

 

And no plausible mechanism by which getting flu vaccine would make one more susceptible to COVID. The opposite, possibly,  (due to general stimulation of the immune system) but no evidence it is the case. Though I don't know of any studies of people who had received the vaccine just recently.  In temperate climates it is usually given in September and October wheras COVID struck a few months later

[Why Me]

15 hours ago, Raphus said:

Not being a scare monger or harbinger of doom.

But there needs to be more research against the statistics of those people at risk whom had flu jabs and the correlation of those that caught covid. The stats are out there for you to find. 

But there seems to be a link.

Make sure you actually need it before going ahead.

Jeez, another anti-vaxxer nut spewing nonsense. Is this condition correlated to low IQ? Being bullied? Lead in their drinking water? Growing up in a trailer park? I want to know.

[Thaiwrath]

17 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Snipped

 

Note too that there are 2 flu vaccines, "southern" and "northern" hemisphere, for Thailand you need Southern.

Even though Thailand is in the Northern hemisphere ?

[Langsuan Man]

In the US, the flu shots and now the new pneumonia vaccine are given without charge if you are at risk due to age, if on Medicare and most private insurance waive the co pay since it is in their best interest for you to not get sick and make a medical claim 

 

Prices without insurance vary, here is  sample: 

 

 

[Greg O]

Probably stays home wearing a mask and washing his hands 45 times a day...

[ignis]

Had mine for this year.....  Flu Vaccine - 360 baht + Service charge + 50 baht nurse Fee......... up to a point would be another 50 baht for Dr Fee but was there for my 100 day Medications + Diabetic supplies.

 

I am in the at risk group, and had the Flu Vaccine for over 20 years, I did forget one year, had the Flu 3 x was very bad, vowed would never forget again.

[uhuh]

6 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Even though Thailand is in the Northern hemisphere ?

Yes, even though Thailand is in the Northern hemisphere you want the Southern vaccination for Thailand. 

 

Reason: flu season in the cold countries of the north is winter. Vaccination in autumn,  with the virus strains prevalent at this time. 

 

Flu season in the cold countries of the south is their winter, May to September. Vaccination around May,  with the virus strains prevalent at this time. 

 

Flu season in the tropics is the rainy season. Vaccination in Thailand around May (beginning of school). The up-to-date vaccination is the Southern one. 

[DoctorG]

I have had both shots and would recommend. Free in OZ for us oldies, but that does not help you in the slightest, sorry. ????

[uhuh]

6 hours ago, Why Me said:

Jeez, another anti-vaxxer nut spewing nonsense. Is this condition correlated to low IQ? Being bullied? Lead in their drinking water? Growing up in a trailer park? I want to know.

It's strongly related to decadence of a saturated affluent society, where people feel they are entitled to every luxury they can imagine without paying through trade-offs.

 

"I want my ice cream, and I want  it now!"  It was -20°C. She got her ice cream. So her tongue got frozen to the ice cream.

She was 3 years old. 

 

And it's strongly related to an educational system telling everybody that they are smart. Unfortunately,  many are not - as witnessed daily on TVF.

 

I haven't seen a Thai anti-vaxxer yet.

 

[Krataiboy]

7 hours ago, Why Me said:

Jeez, another anti-vaxxer nut spewing nonsense. Is this condition correlated to low IQ? Being bullied? Lead in their drinking water? Growing up in a trailer park? I want to know.

https://www.disabledveterans.org/2020/03/11/flu-vaccine-increases-coronavirus-risk/

[Acharn]

I have emphysema, so check regularly with a doctor who is a pulmonary specialist. I like consulting with him because he speaks English very well, and is very informative about options I might choose. He advises me to get the flu shot every year, which I do. Last year I came down with flu that required a hospital stay, but it was just overnight, so I felt the vaccine did what it was supposed to. I asked him about the pneumonia vaccine, and he said the vaccine available is for a strain of pneumonia that does not occur in Thailand. He did not recommend it.

 

ETA: My flu shot at the hospital costs ฿200.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Acharn

[BritManToo]

20 minutes ago, Acharn said:

Last year I came down with flu that required a hospital stay, but it was just overnight, so I felt the vaccine did what it was supposed to.

I thought a vaccine would stop you getting the disease.

Don't know as I've never had flu vaccine, had flu maybe 3 times in the last 65 years and one of those was probably COVID in January this year (wasn't that bad).

Edited May 17, 2020 by BritManToo

[Surasak]

Whatever did we do before all these vaccines came along, I dread to think. I have had flu once, 1978 and wouldn't want the same thing again. The company I worked for, offered all employees the jab the following year, for free. Most took advantage but a few didn't. A bad batch or circumstances, who knows, but over the next week the number of people off sick, closed the place down for almost a month. I vowed then never to have the flu injection and I don't see me changing my mind anytime soon, but who knows. Each the their own I guess.

[Ireland32]

That Pneumonia vaccine won’t protect you From Wuhan China Virus , I got one already unfortunately , it’s Bacterial Pneumonia , I have never had a flu shot , never get too sick 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Ireland32

[Ireland32]

49 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I thought a vaccine would stop you getting the disease.

Don't know as I've never had flu vaccine, had flu maybe 3 times in the last 65 years and one of those was probably COVID in January this year (wasn't that bad).

I had dry hacking cough for a month Nov.19 and fever for a week , I don’t know what I had but gf didn’t get it

[Laza 45]

9 hours ago, Why Me said:

Jeez, another anti-vaxxer nut spewing nonsense. Is this condition correlated to low IQ? Being bullied? Lead in their drinking water? Growing up in a trailer park? I want to know.

Ha ha!   All of the above, I think!  

[BritManToo]

34 minutes ago, Surasak said:

Whatever did we do before all these vaccines came along, I dread to think.

The weak die, the strong live, and the world isn't overpopulated.

Edited May 17, 2020 by BritManToo

[UbonThani]

41 minutes ago, Surasak said:

Whatever did we do before all these vaccines came along, I dread to think. I have had flu once, 1978 and wouldn't want the same thing again. The company I worked for, offered all employees the jab the following year, for free. Most took advantage but a few didn't. A bad batch or circumstances, who knows, but over the next week the number of people off sick, closed the place down for almost a month. I vowed then never to have the flu injection and I don't see me changing my mind anytime soon, but who knows. Each the their own I guess.

drugs in 2020 arent as bad as 1978

[UbonThani]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Flu is a new virus only been around 100 years or so.

There are no historical records of flu before then.

The term “influenza” was coined by an Italian in the mid-1700's to conote a disease resulting from miasma (bad air). The human disease is thought to have arisen about 6000 years ago. A human influenza virus was not isolated until 1933.

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, Why Me said:

Jeez, another anti-vaxxer nut spewing nonsense. Is this condition correlated to low IQ? Being bullied? Lead in their drinking water? Growing up in a trailer park? I want to know.

It's the people that insist everyone has vaccinations that are the bullies.

If vaccination works, and I choose not to have it, I'm only harming me.

If vaccination works, and you choose to have it, my disease can't harm you.

 

Why do you care if I want to harm myself?

Edited May 17, 2020 by BritManToo