Expats getting a Covid-19 vaccine in Pattaya for dummies with emphasis on expats outside the Thai system

[VaccineHunter]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

My employer has purchased the AZ vaccine for all staff, tomorrow we get the jab.

 

Today HR was finalizing the details and sending copies of ID's to the hospital in readyness.

 

hospital replied only one foreigner per business can be vaccinated according the government policy in regards to the distribution of AZ allocation.

 

5 Foreigners at my work so only the big boss will get the jab !!

Which province?

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

My employer has purchased the AZ vaccine for all staff, tomorrow we get the jab.

 

Today HR was finalizing the details and sending copies of ID's to the hospital in readyness.

 

hospital replied only one foreigner per business can be vaccinated according the government policy in regards to the distribution of AZ allocation.

 

5 Foreigners at my work so only the big boss will get the jab !!

Wow. More now predictable stories of explicit discrimination. Is that in the Pattaya area? 

[Ralf001]

Just now, VaccineHunter said:

Which province?

Chonburi.

[Ralf001]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Wow. More now predictable stories of explicit discrimination. Is that in the Pattaya area? 

Correct, Chonburi.

 

we can have the Sinapharm vaccine if we want though.

 

hopefully the CEO asks for the extra AZ vaccines that cannot be given to the foreigner staff (that has been paid for by the company) to be put in a takeaway box for him to put in the fridge at work !!

Edited July 7, 2021 by Ralf001

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

Correct, Chonburi.

 

we can have the Sinapoharm vaccine if we want though.

 

hopefully the CEO asks for the extra vaccines that cannot be given to the foreigner staff (that has been paid for by the company) to be put in a takeaway box for him to put in the fridge at work !!

OK, that's not that bad then. 

If I were you, I would go for the Sinopharm.

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

OK, that's not that bad then. 

If I were you, I would go for the Sinopharm.

Yeah.. nah.

 

aint no china juice hitting my veins.

[Jingthing]

Just now, Ralf001 said:

Yeah.. nah.

 

aint no china juice hitting my veins.

Up to you.  I don't understand refusing any vaccine now, but of course your decision. 

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Up to you.  I don't understand refusing any vaccine now, but of course your decision. 

I reluctantly agreed to get the AZ only because of the stigma attached in a Thai workplace with me refusing to be tested.

 

According to the Thai staff because I refused to be tested I must have covid and they are asking why Iam not quarantined in hospital.

[VaccineHunter]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Correct, Chonburi.

 

we can have the Sinapharm vaccine if we want though.

 

hopefully the CEO asks for the extra AZ vaccines that cannot be given to the foreigner staff (that has been paid for by the company) to be put in a takeaway box for him to put in the fridge at work !!

what's wrong with the Sinopharm vaccine given there are no other options available? With AZ you would have to wait 12 weeks until you get the next shot (altough they plan to reduce to 8 weeks) and with Sinopharm you would be fully vaccinated with a WHO approved vaccine in a month's time? I don't think you will get any other chance at getting vaccinated anytime soon... Just my two cents.

 

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

I reluctantly agreed to get the AZ only because of the stigma attached in a Thai workplace with me refusing to be tested.

 

According to the Thai staff because I refused to be tested I must have covid and they are asking why Iam not quarantined in hospital.

Well at least you had the option to decline, not saying that you should have declined though. 

You're getting into a tangential area with your story.

We're foreigners here. Most of us understand we need to bend a little to conform with local social standards (even when we disagree with them and even when we have objectively judged them to be nutty). 

Edited July 7, 2021 by Jingthing

[VaccineHunter]

5 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

I reluctantly agreed to get the AZ only because of the stigma attached in a Thai workplace with me refusing to be tested.

 

According to the Thai staff because I refused to be tested I must have covid and they are asking why Iam not quarantined in hospital.

I am wondering too why do you refuse to get tested? Isn't that assuring people around you and their vulnerable family members that might be in worse health conditions than you that they are safe? Seems counterintuitive. 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, VaccineHunter said:

I am wondering too why do you refuse to get tested? Isn't that assuring people around you and their vulnerable family members that might be in worse health conditions than you that they are safe? Seems counterintuitive. 

Yes, keeping in mind many infected people are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. Testing is a limited commodity here. I can understand being worried about a false positive though. 

[Ralf001]

10 hours ago, VaccineHunter said:

I am wondering too why do you refuse to get tested? Isn't that assuring people around you and their vulnerable family members that might be in worse health conditions than you that they are safe? Seems counterintuitive. 

Well I suffer both hypertension and severe white coat syndrome... whilst going from desk to desk in the process that was setup here at work for mass testing  my anxiety levels were incresing ten fold.

 

when I got to the blood pressure station my reading came back 190/120.

 

Next station was the test, as the nurse approached my nose with the swab I started my vision started floating and I was seeing black spots.

 

I stopped the testing there and got up and walked away.

[WaveHunter]

17 hours ago, Guderian said:

I don't know where she got that from. The plan this autumn is to give half the UK's population a Covid booster shot at the same time as they get their annual flu jab, one in the left arm and one in the right, apparently.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/half-of-uk-to-get-third-covid-booster-jab-to-avoid-further-lockdowns-trt6mnr8n

 

As seems so common with anything related to Covid, there is rarely a consensus on anything from so called "trusted authorities or sources". 

 

All I can tell you is that my own impression of her was that she was very knowledgeable (being a senior staff nurse in charge of online video patient consultations), spoken fluent English so there was no problem understanding precisely what she was saying, and she transparent and direct in all of her replies to my questions.

 

Out of all my one-on-one contacts with hospitals personnel at various hospitals concerning vaccination registration, she was by far the most helpful and trustworthy source of information (and to date, I've talked with at least a dozen people at various hospitals.).

 

All I'm saying is that if you have an opportunity of being vaccinated in the next 4 weeks (such as at Phyathai), it's probably a good idea to hold off on an influenza shot in the meantime that might force you to forfeit your Covid vaccination, or compromise it.

Edited July 8, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Jingthing]

I think the standard medical advice is to avoid a flu jab too close to a Covid 19 jab. Perhaps there is a different calculation for a third shot booster but I would still avoid it.

[Jingthing]

Surprise surprise surprise not not not.

 

I think this answers the question of whether registration slots are limited or not.

 

Obviously VERY LIMITED.

 

Any information anyone has about registration at Samitivej for July is now academic but as noted before they didn't have an online option so important to expats in Pattaya.

 

The online option remains for Phyathai 2 Bangkok.

 

Perhaps we should have a contest for people to guess how long registration remains open from the published starting time.

 

https://thailandintervac.com/

 

2. Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital(The hospital has fully booked. The next pre-registration will be open in August)

Edited July 8, 2021 by Jingthing

[VaccineHunter]

5 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Well I suffer both hypertension and severe white coat syndrome... whilst going from desk to desk in the process that was setup here at work for mass testing  my anxiety levels were incresing ten fold.

 

when I got to the blood pressure station my reading came back 190/120.

 

Next station was the test, as the nurse approached my nose with the swab I started my vision started floating and I was seeing black spots.

 

I stopped the testing there and got up and walked away.

even more so a reason to get vaccinated - and referring to a WHO approved vaccine as "china juice" and at the same time claiming there is not enough information around that vaccine that you can "research" when the only other option you have is to stay unvaccinated? Seems like you don't really take this as scientific as you make it out to be - as such all I can do here is to wish you good health and take care!

[HashBrownHarry]

16 hours ago, VaccineHunter said:

I am wondering too why do you refuse to get tested? Isn't that assuring people around you and their vulnerable family members that might be in worse health conditions than you that they are safe? Seems counterintuitive. 

Are you aware of what happens if you test positive in thailand?

 

That in itself is enough to put you off testing if your asmyptamatic.

 

Guy i know was feeling a bit rough ( nothing major ) tested positive and was taken away, the hospital initially asked for 20K a night, he got then down to 1K.

 

[VaccineHunter]

2 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Are you aware of what happens if you test positive in thailand?

 

That in itself is enough to put you off testing if your asmyptamatic.

 

Guy i know was feeling a bit rough ( nothing major ) tested positive and was taken away, the hospital initially asked for 20K a night, he got then down to 1K.

 

Interesting, which hospital was that and what was the justification for the 20K vs. 1K? 

[HashBrownHarry]

1 minute ago, VaccineHunter said:

Interesting, which hospital was that and what was the justification for the 20K vs. 1K? 

BPH.

 

No idea about the justification but he basically told them he'd not be able to pay. Infact i think the justification was they wanted to carry out a whole bunch of tests.

 

Most countries if someone tests positive they're sent home to self isolate ( if asymptamatic ), makes much more sense.

 

He tested, went home, they called him and told him they were coming to take him away, no choice!

[Guderian]

13 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

He tested, went home, they called him and told him they were coming to take him away, no choice!

Lol, something seems to have gone wrong in our tropical retirement idyll. I'd have been out of the house like a shot after that call, the GF's got a shack up in the Laem Chabang area that doesn't even have a Thai postal address, that would be a good place to hide out for two weeks until the Covid scare and threat of forced incarceration at your own expense had passed.

[HashBrownHarry]

15 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Lol, something seems to have gone wrong in our tropical retirement idyll. I'd have been out of the house like a shot after that call, the GF's got a shack up in the Laem Chabang area that doesn't even have a Thai postal address, that would be a good place to hide out for two weeks until the Covid scare and threat of forced incarceration at your own expense had passed.

Yeah but unfotunately by then they have all your details, don't think it would bode well if you 'bolted'.

 

His error was going to test in the first place.

[johng]

6 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Next station was the test, as the nurse approached my nose with the swab

Are you saying they are doing a Covid test before allowing you to receive the vaccine ?

is that normal ?

[CRUNCHER]

With the talk now of travel restrictions how are people from Pattaya going to get to Bangkok for a jab?  What about those who need to go back for a second jab?

 

Something to think about and is one reason why I want my jab here in Pattaya! 

That is why this thread is so important if people could stay on topic.

[TimBKK]

17 hours ago, VaccineHunter said:

no news from my end - just wondering if anybody contacted Samitivej as they have no acknowldgement of the Intervac registration on their website which seems odd but then what isn't odd about the vaccine rollout... 

FWIW, I received a text message from Samitivej on June 30th which states “Regarding your interest to receive an alternative vaccine, we have now reserved Moderna vaccines for you.  You will receive a message within 14 days with a link to confirm the number of vaccines required and to make payment.  It is expected that alternative vaccination services will be made available in the 4th quarter of 2021.”  Also got a couple of phone calls from Samitivej Sriracha confirming my interest.

 

Gives me little solace though, with the delta variant on the rise and lockdowns impending.  Q4 is just too late, obviously, but at least Samitivej seem somewhat clear in their process and communications.

[Jingthing]

17 minutes ago, CRUNCHER said:

With the talk now of travel restrictions how are people from Pattaya going to get to Bangkok for a jab?  What about those who need to go back for a second jab?

 

Something to think about and is one reason why I want my jab here in Pattaya! 

That is why this thread is so important if people could stay on topic.

I agree with you but unfortunately there are currently no similar opportunities in Pattaya. 

 

So even though going to Bangkok for jabs is a PITA and it will expose people to infection risks, if you secure a slot it is possible to do.

 

I have also considered the risk of a lockdown that may make it impossible to make it to appointments in Bangkok. Yes two jabs will be needed but I think one jab if it's AstraZeneca has some protective value. One jab of Sinovac doesn't really. 

 

As of today there are no announcements of inclusion of expats in public programs in Pattaya even if we could believe such announcements if there were.

 

Not for July.

Not for August.

Not for September. 

and so on.

 

This remains a really really bad situation for expats seeking vaccines in Pattaya. 

 

[WaveHunter]

43 minutes ago, CRUNCHER said:

With the talk now of travel restrictions how are people from Pattaya going to get to Bangkok for a jab?  What about those who need to go back for a second jab?

 

Something to think about and is one reason why I want my jab here in Pattaya! 

That is why this thread is so important if people could stay on topic.

In the past "lockdowns", those with legitimate medical reasons were allowed to travel to the doctor or hospital for an appointment. 

 

So getting to Bangkok for vaccination would probably be allowed if these guidelines were in effect...assuming a lockdown occurs (which of course is only be speculated right now, and nothing more).

 

BTW, discussing Bangkok is indeed on-topic now for this thread since, so far, it has been the only viable option (albeit a bit dubious) for those in this province to be vaccinated in a timely way.

Edited July 8, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, johng said:

Are you saying they are doing a Covid test before allowing you to receive the vaccine ?

is that normal ?

Not what I said at all.

Edited July 8, 2021 by Ralf001

[Jingthing]

21 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

In the past "lockdowns", those with legitimate medical reasons were allowed to travel to the doctor or hospital for an appointment. 

 

So getting to Bangkok for vaccination would probably be allowed if these guidelines were in effect...assuming a lockdown occurs (which of course is only be speculated right now, and nothing more).

 

BTW, discussing Bangkok is indeed on-topic now for this thread since, so far, it has been the only viable option (albeit a bit dubious) for those in this province to be vaccinated in a timely way.

This current proposal if it comes into effect would likely explicitly ban INTERPROVINCIAL travel, so wouldn't that override medical appointments being allowed?

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=365868911566045

Edited July 8, 2021 by Jingthing

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, VaccineHunter said:

even more so a reason to get vaccinated - and referring to a WHO approved vaccine as "china juice" and at the same time claiming there is not enough information around that vaccine that you can "research" when the only other option you have is to stay unvaccinated? Seems like you don't really take this as scientific as you make it out to be - as such all I can do here is to wish you good health and take care!

My health will be just fine without a jungle juice jab.

Thanks !