Flying to US with Thai wife for Vaccine

[mtls2005]

Have your wife watch the many Youtube videos of Thais documenting their vaccine vacation in the U.S.

 

She'll be able to find them, they're all in Thai, they have very detailed information.

 

 

example: there are a lot more out there.

 

 

 

 

[Pilotman]

2 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

 

I had the same experience fly back to the USA through Singapore.  There were literally more flight attendants on the plane than passengers.  I had contact with almost no one the entire trip home.  I would consider my flights and arrival near zero covid risk.  

breathing aircraft  re circulated air is certainly not Covid risk free, or indeed virus free in general. Luck with passenger numbers is not for me, but it is a personal choice at the end of the day.. 

[Phillip9]

12 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

breathing aircraft  re circulated air is certainly not Covid risk free, or indeed virus free in general.

 

Thats just another myth.  All modern aircraft have HEPA filters that will remove virus particles from the air before it is recirculated.

 

https://www.tripsavvy.com/air-quality-during-your-flight-54164

 

[Pilotman]

12 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

 

Thats just another myth.  All modern aircraft have HEPA filters that will remove virus particles from the air before it is recirculated.

 

https://www.tripsavvy.com/air-quality-during-your-flight-54164

 

haha good one.  You are mistaken my friend.  Yes the recycled air is filtered but the filter can only deal with bacteria not adequately for  viruses,  That's why so many people get colds after a long haul flight. The filters on the newer types of aircraft are certainly better, but still not as good as fresh, unfiltered  air.  It is also a factor of how the bleed air is circulated around the cabins, that alone influencing how much bad air comes your way.  It is no coincidence that on most large airliners, the flight deck gets the best of it.  .In addition, the cleaning process after flight is inadequate to eliminate all but the obvious dirt and grime that harbours all kinds of pathogens.  Our turnaround time in London on long haul from say BKK was a mere 3 hours, hardly enough time to fuel the aircraft and reset the computers, let alone do any real cleaning. The myth is regarding the dangerous lack of cleanliness of aircraft and the danger of the atmosphere that you breath for those 9 plus hours. Its about as unhealthy environment as you can imagine 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Pilotman

[mtls2005]

Yeah but, that domestic sector will be jam-packed, assuming you have one of course.

 

 

[Phillip9]

8 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Yes the recycled air is filtered but the filter can only deal with bacteria not adequately for  viruses, 

 

You just made that up.  Just keep your tin hat on when you fly.  That will protect you.

 

https://www.aviationpros.com/airlines/news/21144893/emirates-assures-aircraft-can-filter-out-9997-of-viruses

Edited May 27, 2021 by Phillip9

[Heng]

I see some state websites still suggest that residents of that particular state have priority.... is this not the case on the ground (yeah, probably 50 different answers for that)?   Toying with the idea as well, but would prefer to see a city/state that I haven't been to (and have never lived in).   

[Kelsall]

On 5/26/2021 at 7:18 AM, sqwakvfr said:

"Taiwan is closed for transit passengers from Thailand."

 

EVA was my first choice to LAX but Taiwan is still closed to transit passengers.  In my case the best places to connect are and have been SIN, ICN, NRT.  At this point Japan Air lines or ANA have the best fares for at least the next two months from BKK to LAX.  My plan is too look a what October looks like for entry into LOS.  Did 15 days in ASQ already this year so "not again".  If it is reduced to 7 days then possibly.  

 

In terms vaccine choices:  1) Pfizer-appears to offer the most protection and 21 days between doses 2) Moderna-appears to be second only to Pfizer and 28 days between doses 3) J&J appears to be less effective than Pfizer or Moderna but only one dose.  All these vaccines are readily available in my old neighborhood in Los Angeles County.  

Moderna and Pfizer were tested at about the same times.  JOhnson was tested later.  Efficacy of all three may have been the same had they all been tested under the same conditions: 

 

[Jeffr2]

10 hours ago, Heng said:

I see some state websites still suggest that residents of that particular state have priority.... is this not the case on the ground (yeah, probably 50 different answers for that)?   Toying with the idea as well, but would prefer to see a city/state that I haven't been to (and have never lived in).   

Pretty much every state is jabbing anyone they can.  Offering free beer, shots of whiskey, movie tickets, and even a $ 1 million dollar lottery in Ohio.  I've done quite a bit of research on this for Seattle, San Fran, LA and Denver.  But applies pretty much to the entire US.  Vaccination sites are everywhere.

[Jeffr2]

A great article by the NYT on air quality and circulation in a plane.  Seems your biggest worry will be the passengers near you.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/17/travel/flying-plane-covid-19-safety.html

[Jeffr2]

https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/05/27/california-offering-cash-awards-totaling-1165m-to-get-vaccinated-1384321

 

California offering cash awards totaling $116.5M to get vaccinated

[DerbyDan]

????

Edited May 28, 2021 by DerbyDan

[DerbyDan]

20 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

 

Thats just another myth.  All modern aircraft have HEPA filters that will remove virus particles from the air before it is recirculated.

 

https://www.tripsavvy.com/air-quality-during-your-flight-54164

 

still waiting for a news story that airlines have switched the filters to an n99 equivalent.

 

nothing so far, i guess they can't afford it.

[Phillip9]

28 minutes ago, DerbyDan said:

still waiting for a news story that airlines have switched the filters to an n99 equivalent.

 

nothing so far, i guess they can't afford it.

 

All modern aircraft have been using filters that are much better than the n99 standard for decades.  The filters used on aircraft are equivalent to an n100 mask.

 

https://www.ptitechnologies.com/about/newsroom/hepa-filters/

[Pilotman]

15 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

 

You just made that up.  Just keep your tin hat on when you fly.  That will protect you.

 

https://www.aviationpros.com/airlines/news/21144893/emirates-assures-aircraft-can-filter-out-9997-of-viruses

believe what you like mate, over 10,000 flying hours as a pilot tells me what the truth of the matter is. 

[atpeace]

Why not just wait it out? The odds of you dying in transit to the USA are higher than the odds of dying of COVID.  Hell, just the ride to the airport is probably statistically more dangerous than the risks in Thailand of dying of COVID in the next 60 days.  I take COVID seriously, just saying...

[atpeace]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

believe what you like mate, over 10,000 flying hours as a pilot tells me what the truth of the matter is. 

Also, if the filters are capable ( I have no idea ) it still has to pass through the filter.  Each breath circulates throughout the cabin for a good amount of time before passing through a filter.

[WaveHunter]

As a US citizen, I also considered returning to the States for vaccination since it is now very easy to get vaccinated there with the vaccine of your choice.  I mean, in many states supply of vaccines vastly exceeds demand to the point where they are actually providing incentives for people to get vaccinated like free meals, and even lottery ticket as gifts LOL!

 

However, when I really considered the pros vs cons, it started to not sound so good from a health safety perspective, not to mention a  logistics and cost perspective.

 

The way I see it, staying here in Thailand and waiting for a vaccine here is relatively safe, even if it is months away, and I think it is much more safe than travelling to the US right now.

 

In spite of the recent spike in cases, if you look at the new daily case counts per capita here in Thailand, compared  with the US, even though it is dropping in the US, it is still higher in the US right now, and for most provinces, it is significantly lower than this chart shows since Bangkok heavily skews the numbers:

 

Also, while travelling on a plane is relatively safe, time spent in airports is certainly not.

 

Finally when you add up all the complicated logistics involved in travelling to the US and then returning to Thailand, the cost and wasted time involved in mandatory quarantines, and the overall costs involved, I've just decided to stay here in the Kingdom and wait.  

 

I think the thing a lot of people are overlooking is that right now the whole vaccine rollout here in Thailand is a "work in progress".   With such a monumental and unprecedented undertaking where there are no pre-existing guidelines for officials to follow, it should be expected that there will be confusion and contradictions at this stage.

 

However, if you look at the big picture of what is happening, there is rapid progress being made towards a viable solution.

 

I feel confident that as the rollout actually begins the entire picture will change and we'll all be surprised in a very positive way.

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Ken Yamagata]

I'm in the downtown NYC now where I know the neighbourhood well (and will be for another 3 weeks for summer vacation and for another shots, just myself). Everything went well so far as planned and as I read here, I was able to meet "the whale"[*]again with Pfizer shot provided to me. Thank you for the all sharings. Feel free to ask me any question too if you're concerned/planned. Now I am looking for great Thai food here. Probably off topic for the thread tho...

 

[*]amnh.org/covid-vaccination

[Ken Yamagata]

"No question asked" is not a true. I of course got a lot of medical and condition questions asked and you have to be fluent English speaker to answer - probably you want to pre-read the papers carefully - medical words are not daily vocabulary for me too.

One interesting question I had was - whether I got any type of covid vaccination shots before. That's sounds crazy to have duplicate shots but there seems to be the cases before.

[Wars]

Flew from bangkok Friday Night (ANA airlines) arrived Saturday morning in NYC had an appointment using https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/

used my local Riteaid they just asked if I was sick or felt sick. They also booked my appointment for the 2nd dose of the vaccine 4 days early since thats the most you can do it according to the CDC because I will be leaving as soon as I can back to Thailand. I think the questions varies from place to place where you get the vaccine. I didn't have to do any paper work as well. 

[Ken Yamagata]

It was not clearly mentioned on my previous post but 

- Visited one of city mass vaccination site. "museum"

- I have foreign passport only.

- They checked my passport to ensure my name matches with their record since I've pre-booked and it needs to be written on the certificate.

- Compared to other person's stories, who is visiting pharmacies, seems to get a lot of medical questions asked but I'm personally got relieved since those are my concerned points.

- My 2nd dose is planned on-site, same place, in 21 days. 

- The site has both pfizer and moderna, but pfizer looked 3x-5x popular there.

[Phillip9]

41 minutes ago, Ken Yamagata said:

Compared to other person's stories, who is visiting pharmacies, seems to get a lot of medical questions asked but I'm personally got relieved since those are my concerned points.

 

Glad to hear you got your vaccine.  
 

At the pharmacy I got my shots (CVS), I registered online.  There were a lot of medical questions asked online during registration.  At the pharmacy, in person, they didn't ask anything except for my ID.  This may be easier for people who are not native english speakers since you can read through the questions and take your time.

Edited May 30, 2021 by Phillip9

[atpeace]

7 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

 

Glad to hear you got your vaccine.  
 

At the pharmacy I got my shots (CVS), I registered online.  There were a lot of medical questions asked online during registration.  At the pharmacy, in person, they didn't ask anything except for my ID.  This may be easier for people who are not native english speakers since you can read through the questions and take your time.

This is great news and happy for you both.  Not really concerned here in Thailand but have hopes a vaccination process that resembles the USA is implemented in the next 60 days.  I miss the freedom to do what I want when I want.  

[Jeffr2]

1 hour ago, atpeace said:

This is great news and happy for you both.  Not really concerned here in Thailand but have hopes a vaccination process that resembles the USA is implemented in the next 60 days.  I miss the freedom to do what I want when I want.  

The most dangerous part of the trip to the US is the taxi ride.  Which some of us avoid by having friends take us to the airport.  Once there, it's almost completely empty.  Anyone going through security has had to test negative within the past 72 hours, and most workers have been vaccinated.  So the risk is quite minimal.  The other risk would be in the US, exiting the terminal.

 

I doubt we'll see any of the better jabs here for quite some time.  Moderna has announced delays, Pfizer is sold out, J&J has manufacturing issues.  It's going to be some time.  AZ will be the only option for some time.

 

Not to mention who knows when bars will reopen?  Maybe that Indian variant gets here and everything goes sideways again.  Especially considering a majority of the population hasn't been vaccinated.

 

Crazy times.  Stay safe!

[brewsterbudgen]

Wow, some people are lucky that they don't have to work or take care of kids in school!  The sound of a Californian vaccine vacation does sound appealing.  A trip back to the UK for the same reason, less so.  I guess I'm stuck here.

[Heng]

9 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Wow, some people are lucky that they don't have to work or take care of kids in school!  The sound of a Californian vaccine vacation does sound appealing.  A trip back to the UK for the same reason, less so.  I guess I'm stuck here.

 

That's the main hang up for me (kids in school).   21 days between Pfizer shots, plus 15 days as a margin of error (for just in case type situations) doubling as vacation time, plus another 15 days in ASQ here.   

 

That vs.

 

Well, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything; if the situation turns into something like India or Brazil.

 

Right now the tentative line in the sand will be if the local health department starts to go Buriram style trying to force people to get Sinovac or Sinopharm jabs.   I don't think either jab is dangerous but I'm not going to be forced to take anything. 

 

   

[Jeffr2]

This is really bad and justifies my initially skeptical decision to go to the US for a jab.  Not skeptical anymore.  Especially if they try to mess with the number of doses per vial.  A recipe for disaster.

 

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/thailand-national-news/thailand-politics-thailand-national-news/thai-government-accused-of-concealing-astrazeneca-vaccine-data/

 

Thai Government Accused of Concealing AstraZeneca Vaccine Data

 

Dr Suphat said that as the government has a limited amount of the AstraZeneca vaccine, it has instructed hospitals to get 12 doses from each vial, instead of the 10 doses that the label recommends.

 

Not to mention this:

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand