UK continues its refusal to recognise vaccines administered in Thailand

[ukrules]

3 hours ago, Johnny Mac said:

So all the smug ones who thought they  would be in a better position with say 2 pzifers or 2 moderna's are not. The UK doesn't take Thailand seriously as a nation (unless they want some rice) so we're all in the same boat as far as any expat wanting to go to the UK. Suck on that.

Almost nobody cares what the UK government thinks, I know I don't - I generally regard them as complete morons, doesn't matter which party is in charge, it's all the same.

 

However, you're very wrong here.

 

You should take a vaccine to protect yourself from disease, not to satisfy some central bureaucracy run by buffoons.

 

I believe you are better off with 2 Modernas, Pfizers or indeed AstraZenecas compared to some cocktail of Sinovac and one other.

 

Personally I think I'm going to wait for next generation vaccines to come along that target this Delta and other variants to come.

 

There's a lot of second generation vaccines coming through the multi phase testing pipeline right now.

 

[Big Bert]

22 minutes ago, Joules said:

By the way, EVERYBODY coming to Thailand has to quarantine for 14 days, the cheapest for a farang being 37,000 baht with SIX (6) covid tests at 3,000 baht each.   Total cost, around £805.

6 covid tests? I had 1 before departure and 3 in ASQ

[Tonypandy]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

have received two doses of AstraZeneca in Bangkok, which means I am fully vaccinated.

No one will be fully vaccinated, they will introduce more and more shot requirements. Wait and see

[Big Bert]

1 hour ago, PEE TEE said:

So the Uk being one of the most stupid country's in the world apart from the USA. do not recognize AZ being the most used in the UK How is that then. Yet they allow hundreds of illegal rubber boat immigrants in without any vaccines and put them in hotels and pay them for the privilege . The real British citizens have to pay around 3000pounds on arrival to their own country . to conclude the punishment for going to Thailand is to pay out so the illegal's can get your money. i am British but would rather go to Afghanistan than the UK probably now more of them than their own country  

Makes no difference what vaccine or where it comes from.

Everyone, vaccinated or not does £2,250 mandatory quarantine. I have just done 14 days here with a vaccine so no different really.

[jwest10]

34 minutes ago, Joules said:

"“There is no rhyme nor reason to this policy”, they added."

 

Nonsense.  First of all, this Chinovac/Astra mix has never been backed by science.  No country should recognize a vaccine that isn't even allowed in their own country, such as Chinovac, for very obvious reasons.  And the Thai Astra Zeneca is NOT UK Astra Zeneca.  It has had a lot of problems and is NOT even approved for use in the UK.  I know many Thai people that got very sick after getting the Astra -- some of them for a week or longer.  There is something wrong with it.  As for Pfizer, it has to been kept refrigerated in a strict chain of custody.  A rhetorical question:  If you were out in the provinces and Pfizer had been sent out there, would you trust you life to it on the basis that you believed it had been properly handled when no Thai can even read and understand the instructions?  No, that's what I thought.

 

Personally, I got the Pfizer (out in the provinces), compliments of the United States, but I have zero faith in it actually being effective after it having been in the country for a month.  Was it properly refrigerated at all times?  Would I bet my life on it?  555.  At least I will have the vax certificate for the day when Immigration starts requiring it.

 

There is certainly rhyme and reason to this policy.  It is the only logical one.  I feel for the Brits and anyone else suffering this, but you did choose to live here.  You knew the stakes going in.  What is a shame is that each expat's embassy did not hold a proper vaccination session, with a good certificate recognized in the respective countries.

You choose to live here yes with our loved one and family

[DaveSamutP]

11 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

A country that has one of the worst records in the world for deaths and the handling of the pandemic and to this day still has the highest rate of new infections holds but one record.... world beating arrogance as the johnson would say.

Totally agree. China is a mess.

[KKr]

3 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Sound theory.

 

 

Unfortunately not:-

 

Travel from the rest of the world if you are fully vaccinated

From 4am Monday 4 October, you will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:

• under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe, USA or UK vaccine programme overseas
• with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

 

4 hours ago, smedly said:

If Thailand was removed from the UK red list then they may in fact recognise AZ and Pfizer administered in Thailand but possibly not and of the Chinese vaccines

good luck to those that need to travel to the UK as well as China. 

I was told yesterday that China only accepts Chinese vaccines.

[PeeJayEm]

4 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Although obviously not Sinovac as one of the combinations

Exactly!!  That is the main hurdle.

[Fairynuff]

3 minutes ago, DaveSamutP said:

Totally agree. China is a mess.

Not compared to the U.K. it isn’t 

[Uroller]

You can’t really blame the UK for their not recognizing Thailand vaccine even though it might be Pfizer or Moderna, why would they trust anything done by the Thai government. The Thai government has failed big time in their hap hazard approach to the Covid Pandemic and they have a “Sandbox” in Phuket where they are getting over 200 new cases a day????Seems to justify Red label and non trust to me????

[kiwikeith]

4 hours ago, keith101 said:

It may  have a lot to do with Thailand's continuing use of Chinas Sinovac and Sino pharm vaccines which i can fully understand .

4 hours ago, keith101 said:

It may  have a lot to do with Thailand's continuing use of Chinas Sinovac and Sino pharm vaccines which i can fully understand .

Are they going to ban Israelis, as the Pfizer vaccine efficacy has dropped to 39% against Delta and Israel's hospitals are filling up with reinfected persons who have been double jabbed , and they have vaccinated 81 % of the population with Pfizer. they only used Pfizer, and now there is talk of the 4th booster jab.

So Sinovac/sinopharm should compare with other vaccines, whos efficacy  seems to be dropping a few months out from receiving your double Jabba.

 

Then it might be just the plain bungling of the vaccine role out, mixing vaccines and giving shots under the skin that might irk the British governments virus rule makers, 

Then it could also be the possibility of the Khao San Rd special vaccination certificate.

If Prayut could print certificates with his personal stamp on them ,then Britain might change it's mind.

 

[Bkk Brian]

Just now, kiwikeith said:

Are they going to ban Israelis, as the Pfizer vaccine efficacy has dropped to 39% against Delta and Israel's hospitals are filling up with reinfected persons who have been double jabbed , and they have vaccinated 81 % of the population with Pfizer. they only used Pfizer, and now there is talk of the 4th booster jab.

So Sinovac/sinopharm should compare with other vaccines, whos efficacy  seems to be dropping a few months out from receiving your double Jabba.

 

Then it might be just the plain bungling of the vaccine role out, mixing vaccines and giving shots under the skin that might irk the British governments virus rule makers, 

Then it could also be the possibility of the Khao San Rd special vaccination certificate.

If Prayut could print certificates with his personal stamp on them ,then Britain might change it's mind.

 

Israel hospital admissions are on a decline and have been since the beginning of Sept, they never reached the peaks of their previous waves last year thanks to the vaccines.

[PeeJayEm]

14 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Stated by who?

You are talking garbage. The NHS app is extemely difficult to access and if you have difficulty you must see a GP, but you cannot see a GP because it is not an emergency.

The system is fundamentally flawed for those in the UK far less from outside.

This is more garbage on top of garbage. The NHS app works fine. Seeing a GP will not fix the app.  GP's do not deal with emergencies - A&E and 999 do.  GPS are seeing people as normal - often initially still by phone but in clinic when warranted.

[PeeJayEm]

5 minutes ago, Uroller said:

You can’t really blame the UK for their not recognizing Thailand vaccine even though it might be Pfizer or Moderna, why would they trust anything done by the Thai government. The Thai government has failed big time in their hap hazard approach to the Covid Pandemic and they have a “Sandbox” in Phuket where they are getting over 200 new cases a day????Seems to justify Red label and non trust to me????

I totally agree.  Even if the vaccination programme were robust, the continual threat to open up to tourists (which means opening all tourism related businesses) would just thwart the progress.  So indeed it is probably much based on mistrust of the government's words and portrayals.

[dunroaming]

16 minutes ago, DavisH said:

Stupid yes....they develped a vaccine but they at the same time dont approve it. That really makes sense. 

Two months ago In Mae Sai you could buy Astra Zeneca  and Pfizer vaccine.   My friend was offered them at the Pharmacy near the bridge.  They had boxes of them.  All fake of course and coming directly from China.  God knows how many boxes found there way south from there.

 

Now I am sure (like my friend) none of you would fall for this obvious scam, most ex-pats in Thailand are far too savvy for that.  But that is not the point.  I am sure there are fakes all over the place in the poorer countries with vulnerable people and lax law enforcement.  Of course this will influence the UK and other countries when they look at travel restrictions based on vaccinations.

[ukrules]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

They  simply want you to verify your current address, which may not match your previous passport. 

I find this global obsession with proof of address very annoying.

 

I could rent several apartments in different places next week and have multiple addresses and prove that I live in any one of them by getting an immigration certificate of residence, then move to a different one the next day and tell nobody.

It's less than useless unless you're talking about home owners.

Mailing out a letter with a random number to be entered on a website would be just as secure.

 

[PeeJayEm]

4 hours ago, Exploring Thailand said:

If they're going to impede vaccinated British citizens' ability to return to the UK, then it's incumbent upon them to explain exactly why they're doing so.

 

My guess is that they're most worried about the lack of testing. They're concerned that if a new virus appears, it won't be picked up. But we shouldn't have to guess. They should tell us the reason (and also tell the Thai government). 

 

It would be good to see @British Consular Team active in this thread, or addressing the issue elsewhere. 

It is not incumbent on the various UK country administrations (England is only 1 of 4 and they each make their own rules) to justify in detail why countries are red listed or vaccination programmes

are not trusted.  Their duty is to protect the people residing in their particular country whether they be British or other nationalities.  If they were required (as you state) to justify their decisions on each foreign country in detail then the decisions would become  on promises by

 politics and detente.

 

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, ben2talk said:

The point really is that AZ, Pfizer and Moderna are approved - but if they're administered in Thailand they aren't being accepted.

 

Frankly ridiculous... but for a country that still insists that you arrange to have a bank statement or mobile phone bill delivered to your home address by post as part of your verification (why - because your current passport isn't good enough?) before you can get a new passport it's hardly surprising.

 

Oh wow! They're accepting mobile phone bills now? That's progress!

[PeeJayEm]

4 hours ago, ben2talk said:

The point really is that AZ, Pfizer and Moderna are approved - but if they're administered in Thailand they aren't being accepted.

 

Frankly ridiculous... but for a country that still insists that you arrange to have a bank statement or mobile phone bill delivered to your home address by post as part of your verification (why - because your current passport isn't good enough?) before you can get a new passport it's hardly surprising.

 

Mixing up unrelated issues here with quite a lot of emotion and irrationality as the glue. 

[aussienam]

Well to be fair, I have heard testimonials from several expats that after the Pfizer jabs, that they ended up with massive erections for days!  Was there a "mix'n'match" with something else??? ???? 

Edited September 24, 2021 by aussienam

[Cake Monster]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Wonder why the UK is being such a Richard on this. It seems Canada is ok with the AZ Vaccine from elsewhere.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ask-covid-astrazeneca-genx-side-effect-1.6003923

 

There are two different brands of the AstraZeneca shots for COVID-19 available in Canada: The AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, manufactured in the United States and elsewhere, and COVISHIELD, manufactured by Serum Institute of India. You don't need to worry about mixing them. They are interchangeable.

 

"Same recipe, same molecule, just different factories," said Dr. Don Sheppard, a medical microbiologist and director and founder of the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity in Montreal in a recent CBC News interview.

 

"Health Canada has evaluated the manufacturing process by both factories and said that they're identical." 

It was only yesterday that the UK recognized the Indian " Covishield " made by the Serum Institute.

And " Covishield " is exactly the same as AZ.

Maybe this whole thing is not about the actual Vaccines being administered in Thailand, but maybe something to do with the recording process / issuing of Authenticity Etc.

The one thing that is certain, is that the UK, once digging their heels in over an issue, are extremely difficult to dislodge from that position, and will not do so until they are 120% satisfied that all their Boxes have been ticked.

 

[ukrules]

38 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

A country that has one of the worst records in the world for deaths and the handling of the pandemic and to this day still has the highest rate of new infections holds but one record.... world beating arrogance as the johnson would say.

You could also consider that the UK does so many tests that it finds so many more cases.

They could easily do 50,000 tests per day like Thailand and find only a few thousand but would that change anything?

 

They could also stop sequencing the genomes or continue to do it in secret and tell nobody - that would solve the variant problem wouldn't it? ????

[Rinrada]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

There is a government online petition that you can all sign.

 

Not sure if the link is allowed - just in case it is

 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/594456

done...3210

 signatures

We've added your signature to the petition:

[david555]

4 hours ago, Saltire said:

Yet another reason for the UK to have followed the French governments initative and provide both vaccine and innoculations for UK citizens. Maybe we'd have less of this BS to put up with.

 

But still they are administered in Thailand by BKK Hospital staff ...... ????

[Clarkey611]

2 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

This is typical political BS of the pot calling the kettle black. Meanwhile the citizens suffers while the UK has 35,000 cases per day. The UK Gov't is quite useless.

The furlough scheme was very effective according to a large number of businesses

[ukrules]

33 minutes ago, Tonypandy said:

No one will be fully vaccinated, they will introduce more and more shot requirements. Wait and see

In just 6 months time everyone who's been vaccinated at any time before now will be regarded as unvaccinated anyway.

[PeeJayEm]

4 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Sound theory.

 

 

Unfortunately not:-

 

Travel from the rest of the world if you are fully vaccinated

From 4am Monday 4 October, you will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:

• under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe, USA or UK vaccine programme overseas
• with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Yes - in other words, places that the UK can vet and trust.

[Mickmouse1]

Those with good or high level contact inside the FCO can find out why MI6  made the recommendation to the Government!!!!????

It doesn't need a genius to know.

[phetphet]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

And for good reason. Thailand - land of fake watches, handbags and......

Seriously, the AZ manufactured in Thailand is not the same as the AZ manufactured in the UK. Different components.

Then we have Happy Larry playing with the number of doses per bottle as well as injecting the stuff in 'other' places.

Lots of reasons to be concerned.

According to AZ's own website it is the same. They are trying to register the name Vaxzevria with the WHO.

A: COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca that is made in Thailand is of the same quality as AstraZeneca’s vaccine made in Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, and elsewhere. All manufacturing around the world is conducted using the same stringent manufacturing process and each batch passes over 60 quality tests as part of our global robust quality assurance process.

 

https://www.astrazeneca.com/country-sites/thailand/press-release/travelling-with-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-made-in-thailand.html

[Cherrytreeview]

1 hour ago, DavisH said:

Stupid yes....they develped a vaccine but they at the same time dont approve it. That really makes sense. 

Just like the UK doesn't believe any of Thailand's facts and figures regarding testing, ability to keep track of covid variants etc, they most likely don't trust the Thai's to not make a mess of producing the vaccine.

Yes, stupid for ever making Thailand their home.

Don't come back to the UK. Simple.