What is the story with hospitals announcing Moderna sign ups and then almost immediately saying they are completely full

[oldcpu]

1 hour ago, oldcpu said:

... at about 10:35am we managed to go through the registration process, and then got to the page where one is to wait for an SMS with payment details ... this was at 10:39am.  No SMS came.  We had read previous if his happens, it means they are sold out.

Not being one to immediately give up, my Thai wife phoned the hospital afterward, advised that our registrations had gone through, but no SMS received for payment submission.

 

The lady in the hospital was very polite and apologetic. She noted the hospital website had been overwhelmed, and over 100,000 registration attempts had been made, which massively outstripped the hospital's allocation (and caused their website major issues).

 

If true, 100,000 is a very large # for Phuket.  The registration had made it clear, this was only for Moderna jabs to be given in one of Phuket's two international hospitals (in the Bangkok Hospital chain).   The population of Phuket is less than 500,000 and I seriously doubt that there were 100,000 registration attempts from Phuket, as Phuket has already had many people vaccinated.

 

That suggests to me that a VERY large number of people, in Thailand, from outside of Phuket, tried to register for Moderna in Phuket (trying immediately as soon as the registration opened) , presumably with a plan to come to Phuket to be vaccinated. 

 

Again, it shows that demand is greatly outstripping the supply.

.

Edited July 7, 2021 by oldcpu

[Lorry]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

Sorry to hear that. I clicked the tag next to the image of the card symbols then the link that appeared.

In the end,  the hospital sent me by Line the same payment link I got as SMS. In Line, it worked at the first try. 

[Lorry]

1 hour ago, oldcpu said:

Not being one to immediately give up, my Thai wife phoned the hospital afterward, advised that our registrations had gone through, but no SMS received for payment submission.

 

The lady in the hospital was very polite and apologetic. She noted the hospital website had been overwhelmed, and over 100,000 registration attempts had been made, which massively outstripped the hospital's allocation (and caused their website major issues).

 

If true, 100,000 is a very large # for Phuket.  The registration had made it clear, this was only for Moderna jabs to be given in one of Phuket's two international hospitals (in the Bangkok Hospital chain).   The population of Phuket is less than 500,000 and I seriously doubt that there were 100,000 registration attempts from Phuket, as Phuket has already had many people vaccinated.

 

That suggests to me that a VERY large number of people, in Thailand, from outside of Phuket, tried to register for Moderna in Phuket (trying immediately as soon as the registration opened) , presumably with a plan to come to Phuket to be vaccinated. 

 

Again, it shows that demand is greatly outstripping the supply.

.

You don't need people from outside. 

I would guess that 20% of all Thais want to pay for Moderna. Phuket is rich and educated,  so maybe more. 

 

Are they already "vaccinated"?

They know they got Chinese <deleted>. Especially now, after the leaked memo gave it to them in writing. 

And they can read the news,  that the UK government expects 100000 cases per day. These are the tourists Phuket is waiting for. 

 

[pixelaoffy]

And I know Thais who have paid up front for moderna and told by hospital they don't know when the vaccine is avaible to be administered...anytime this year.. what suckers to pay for something before they had it..

[GarryP]

3 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

And I know Thais who have paid up front for moderna and told by hospital they don't know when the vaccine is avaible to be administered...anytime this year.. what suckers to pay for something before they had it..

I am one of the suckers. And I am fine with it. If my wife and I do not receive the vaccine by 31 December, our payment will be refunded. 

[Lorry]

7 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

And I know Thais who have paid up front for moderna and told by hospital they don't know when the vaccine is avaible to be administered...anytime this year.. what suckers to pay for something before they had it..

Desperate people. Who cannot fly abroad to get vaccinated. 

And people who consider it a lottery ticket. 

It gives you  a certain chance.  The chance is worth money. 

(you should study options pricing)

Edited July 7, 2021 by Lorry

[oldcpu]

29 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

... what suckers to pay for something before they had it..

The Thai private hospitals are suffering and financially struggling ... and the amount of money asked for the vaccine relatively small for the people who typically frequent the Private Hospitals. The hospitals would likely charge much much more if the government let them.

 

I suspect many of those who you believe to be suckers who succeeded to register for Moderna and pay (1) will get their Moderna vaccine jab and be happy, and (2) if they don't get the jab and if money not refunded ( very unlikely but let's consider such) they will just shrug and consider it a trivial/ small donation to a Hospital that is financially struggling.

 

Maybe it's all a matter of perspective.

[Lorry]

24 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

if they don't get the jab and if money not refunded

It seems most hospitals let you transfer your slot to someone else. 

 

 

[oldcpu]

15 minutes ago, Lorry said:

It seems most hospitals let you transfer your slot to someone else.

My wife was on the phone in PHuket this morning to Bangkok Hospital here in Phuket, asking if she managed to get successful Moderna registration (which she did not get) would she be able to transfer one of her two jabs to someone else? 

 

The nurse (?) on the phone at the hospital said she did not know, so she took my wife's phone # and said she would call her back.  About an hour later my wife had a return phone call from the Hospital, and was told the Bangkok Hospital in Phuket's policy was "NO", ... no transferring.   ....

 

... this does thou have me thinking of another question ...

 

Would a Moderna vaccine slot obtained for one hospital in the Bangkok Hospital chain, be allowed to be used in another hospital in the Bangkok chain?  I suspect (but don't know) the answer might be "Yes" , but one is second priority behind those who already booked at the 2nd hospital.

Edited July 7, 2021 by oldcpu

[watthong]

1 hour ago, oldcpu said:

The Thai private hospitals are suffering and financially struggling ... and the amount of money asked for the vaccine relatively small for the people who typically frequent the Private Hospitals. The hospitals would likely charge much much more if the government let them.

 

I suspect many of those who you believe to be suckers who succeeded to register for Moderna and pay (1) will get their Moderna vaccine jab and be happy, and (2) if they don't get the jab and if money not refunded ( very unlikely but let's consider such) they will just shrug and consider it a trivial/ small donation to a Hospital that is financially struggling.

 

Maybe it's all a matter of perspective.

From an even broader perspective: if we've got to the stage of expecting helicopters landing on the roof of US Embassy on Wireless Rd carrying pallet loads of Pfizer, then true, it's desperation time folks. 

 

I paid for 3 jabs yesterday (including 1 booster jab for me against Delta), went home and slept like a baby. Best 5000 baht ever spent. Truth be told, if I end up not getting either what I paid for, or even my money back, no big deal. Something is going to happen between now and October (a la "helicopter landing on embassy roof" scenario mentioned above.) And my (they are now mine) local hospital (Princ Suwarnabum) could use the money I forked out for something else. Their staff treated me with not just consideration, but also respect. Not to mention their restrooms smelled nicer than those at Paragon.

 

Re transfer of jabs, we asked twice, once at the registration desk, one at the cash register, both times same answer: yes, but you (means I the payer) have to show up as well. So I guess if I don't need my booster jab after all (see "helicopter landing on embassy roof" scenario mentioned above) we would just drag the MIL along and jab her with it, providing she survives her AZ shots.

[Lorry]

3 hours ago, oldcpu said:

My wife was on the phone in PHuket this morning to Bangkok Hospital here in Phuket, asking if she managed to get successful Moderna registration (which she did not get) would she be able to transfer one of her two jabs to someone else? 

 

The nurse (?) on the phone at the hospital said she did not know, so she took my wife's phone # and said she would call her back.  About an hour later my wife had a return phone call from the Hospital, and was told the Bangkok Hospital in Phuket's policy was "NO", ... no transferring.   ....

 

... this does thou have me thinking of another question ...

 

Would a Moderna vaccine slot obtained for one hospital in the Bangkok Hospital chain, be allowed to be used in another hospital in the Bangkok chain?  I suspect (but don't know) the answer might be "Yes" , but one is second priority behind those who already booked at the 2nd hospital.

The transfer to someone else I wrote about is possible only under certain conditions, so you don't lose your money.   Bangkok Hospital maybe was talking about unconditional transfer. 

[steve187]

Went to prince today, as could not get a payment link to respond, i had booked for myself and a friend had booked for 3 people, there were mobs of people queuing to pay, i saw 2 other non Thai people, all chairs set out at correctly spaced distances, well organised, check in to pay is on the ground floor main entrance, just behind and to the right of the main reception desk, is a podium, there you are given a queue number and a small form  to complete, you then wait to be called to 1 of 4 persons under the escalator, who checks your booking and then still with the small form, you hand this to the cashier who is behind you( as you sit in the chair facing 1 of the 4 check-in staff) and then wait in the more comfortable chairs to then pay,(3300thb for a double jab, can book a single jab as well 1650) we were number 84 in the queue at 2pm with lots more people after. the web site says refunds if not jabbed by 31/12

[GarryP]

33 minutes ago, steve187 said:

Went to prince today, as could not get a payment link to respond, i had booked for myself and a friend had booked for 3 people, there were mobs of people queuing to pay, i saw 2 other non Thai people, all chairs set out at correctly spaced distances, well organised, check in to pay is on the ground floor main entrance, just behind and to the right of the main reception desk, is a podium, there you are given a queue number and a small form  to complete, you then wait to be called to 1 of 4 persons under the escalator, who checks your booking and then still with the small form, you hand this to the cashier who is behind you( as you sit in the chair facing 1 of the 4 check-in staff) and then wait in the more comfortable chairs to then pay,(3300thb for a double jab, can book a single jab as well 1650) we were number 84 in the queue at 2pm with lots more people after. the web site says refunds if not jabbed by 31/12

Reading that makes me feel lucky that I managed to pay online. I would have had to take time off work to pay on site. 

[placeholder]

Just maybe those hospitals have a projected supply. And once that was subscribed to, they shut the applications down. Would you rather they keep on offering vaccinations that they won't be able to provide?

[Heng]

 

Okay so it's too late to sign up for this one (they sold out today: July 8 2021 within 5 minutes of opening), but to be ready for it for the next round, make sure you have a Shoppee account.   While a weird way to have people signup IMO (you can get bike helmets and elbow pads on Shoppee, so why not Covid Jabs?), at least it has an English interface.   You can pay with a TrueMoney wallet (which is fairly accessible as well).   So, have your account and funds ready if this comes up again.   On the plus side, there are the 3-4 BKK Phyathai locations (pick Phyathai 2 for easy BTS access) and the 1 Sriracha location for Chonburi folks.  

 

[GarryP]

22 hours ago, steve187 said:

Went to prince today, as could not get a payment link to respond, i had booked for myself and a friend had booked for 3 people, there were mobs of people queuing to pay, i saw 2 other non Thai people, all chairs set out at correctly spaced distances, well organised, check in to pay is on the ground floor main entrance, just behind and to the right of the main reception desk, is a podium, there you are given a queue number and a small form  to complete, you then wait to be called to 1 of 4 persons under the escalator, who checks your booking and then still with the small form, you hand this to the cashier who is behind you( as you sit in the chair facing 1 of the 4 check-in staff) and then wait in the more comfortable chairs to then pay,(3300thb for a double jab, can book a single jab as well 1650) we were number 84 in the queue at 2pm with lots more people after. the web site says refunds if not jabbed by 31/12

My son logged in and paid last night at 10:500 p.m. on his first attempt. Used his wife's credit card.  Some people have all the luck. 

[TigerandDog]

Yesterday while I was playing golf, my wife was talking to the owner of the golf course in the Province where we live and they were discussing the Moderna registrations at a particular private hospital. The golf course owner told her that he/she actually registered every employee at the golf course ( caddies, ground staff etc ) plus friends and their families and some monks 24 hours before the registrations were supposed to open.She was also told several other VIP's in the district did the same. It isn't any wonder the registrations were full with 5 minutes of officially opening.

[rodknock]

it is called bait and switch

"only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidty" Albert Eistein