Covid vaccines for children - where?!

[Na Fan]

According to Pfizer, the vaccines are now available (and according to Bangkok Hospital also recommended) for children above 6 months. 

 

But, I can't seem to find a hospital that has them for kids?

 

Does anyone know where to go to get them for 3/6 year olds? Outside of Thailand would even be an option, I guess if there's some silliness going on again.

 

Cheers

[EVENKEEL]

As a parent I ask you why you'd give a child an unnecessary vaccine for children. 

[Na Fan]

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

As a parent I ask you why you'd give a child an unnecessary vaccine for children. 

Unnecessary? 

 

Daughter had it when she was 3 and half, and she went through a horrible ordeal.

[Sheryl]

 The newest vaccine ever brought into Thailand  is the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5, and that, only some places have; the ones I know of are all in Bangkok. The newer 2024-2025 Pfizer vaccine is not available. 

 

The XBB 1.5 vaccine will  still be of some help especially in completely unvaccinated children who have never had COVID (these will be a minority, see below). Older vaccines, which might be all that one can find outside of Bangkok, might still help but are not approved in Thailand for children under current guidelines; only the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5 is approved for chldren under current Thai guidelines. 

 

Last I heard (admittedly about  year old info) these places had the XBB1.5:

Mahidol University Thai Travel Clinic 

Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute 

Bumrungrad Hosptal

 Praram 9 Hospital

quite possible some other large private hospitals in Thailand now have it too

 

 HOWEVER, these have only the adult formulation.  As you likely know, the dosage for children is different from adults. 3 mcg dose for your 3 year old and 10 mcg dose for your 6 year old.  The vaccine is otherwise the same and per  the guidelines of the Thai Pediatric Society, if the pediatric formulation is unavailable, fractional dose can be used i.e., they can give a partial amount of adult dose vial.  Therefore even if a hospital or clinic does not have the 3 or 10 mcg dose, they can use a partial quantity of the adult dose -- but you'd want to make sure they understand this and calculate correctly.  And they will probably end up wasting most of the vial, which if quantities are scarce, they may be unwilling to do. Do not expect anyone answering phone or email to know this, they will likely answer only that they do not have the pediatric vaccine, which is technically true.  Doctor may or may not be willing to partial dose from use adult vial , and it would take direct doctor order to make that happen. Which you may or may not be able to get.

 

While the official COVID vaccine guidelines have not so far changed, the current outbreak is of an extremely contagious but unusually mild  (for most people) variant. A recent study found that 80% of young children in Thailand already have immunity to COVID. This study has not yet been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal but it has been widely publicized in the general media and a Chulalongkorn researcher even took the unusual step of posting it on Facebook.  While any change in guidelines remains to be seen, pretty much everyone knows about this finding and it will probably influence provider behavior/willingness to use a fractional dose from an adult vial to vaccinate a child if there are no special risk factors present. 

 

If you have not already, you can try asking Bumrungrad and Praram 9. Do not ask if the have the  pediatric vaccine (they don't); ask if they have Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5 vaccine available. If they do, ask if they will administer fractional dose based on age to children (better yet, go and ask this in person -- Thais tend to always say no to anything they are unsure of, and whomever you could reach by phone or email will not be a decision maker).

 

If it is any comfort, your 6 year old, having already had COVID for sure, probably has good immunity and your 3 year old also likely (80% chance) has some immunity, and the current strains are much less severe than what was around when your now 6 year old got it.

 

Of course if either of your children has special risk factors due to chronic disease, or if there is an older person in the same household with unusual risk factor that needs to be protected,  that changes matters and best to go see a pediatrician at a hospital you know has the XBB.1.5 vaccine in stock to press your case. 

 

 

 

 

[Na Fan]

Thank you for the phenomenal response @Sheryl

 

The Bangkok hospital in Pattaya also has Comirnathy from Pfizer, and, as you say, only the adult dose. And they have not been offering (via email) to administer a partial dose. 

I'll go talk to their infectious disease specialist and see what they say.

 

You've been super helpful, thank you! 

 

Have a splendid weekend

[Sheryl]

31 minutes ago, Na Fan said:

Thank you for the phenomenal response @Sheryl

 

The Bangkok hospital in Pattaya also has Comirnathy from Pfizer, and, as you say, only the adult dose. And they have not been offering (via email) to administer a partial dose. 

I'll go talk to their infectious disease specialist and see what they say.

 

You've been super helpful, thank you! 

 

Have a splendid weekend

 

Make sure it is Comirnaty XBB.1.5, as there are early versions still around.

[anrcaccount]

@Sheryl thanks for your usual sensible advice.

 

In my home countries (x2), which have very strong, well respected health systems, covid vaccines are not recommended for children under 18 without existing complex health conditions.

 

So for the vast majority of children, covid vaccines are not recommended. 

 

Does Thailand offer different public health guidance?

 

 

[Na Fan]

54 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

@Sheryl thanks for your usual sensible advice.

 

In my home countries (x2),

 

 

 

which countries are those? 

 

The US has just released some questionable "advise"...

[Magictoad]

10 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

As a parent I ask you why you'd give a child an unnecessary vaccine for children. 

We don't think they are unnecessary and we don't trust your medical qualifications. I trust doctors and nurses who incidentally; wear masks throughout the hospitals, everywhere in the hospital.  Because masks stop airborne infections. Please stop using this forum for your looney anti vax campaign.  I guess you are an American

because no British fall for these conspiracy theories.  They just go to their doctor twice a year to get their free vaccinations on the NHS.

Respectfully yours

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

@Sheryl thanks for your usual sensible advice.

 

In my home countries (x2), which have very strong, well respected health systems, covid vaccines are not recommended for children under 18 without existing complex health conditions.

 

So for the vast majority of children, covid vaccines are not recommended. 

 

Does Thailand offer different public health guidance?

 

 

Current Thai Pediatric Guidelines (2024) include vaccination of children but there is no mass vaccination  campaign for anyone at this time let alone children.

 

As already mentioned  Thailand also  does not have the newest version of vaccine.

 

The government has really not formulated  a coherent response to this latest outbreak yet.  No new guidelines issued and if anything is being done on vaccine procurement it has not been publicized. 

 

Given the recent study findings it can safely be said that there will not be any mass vaccination of children in Thailand unless the epidemiological or  clinical picture significantly changes. 

 

The main argument for mass COVID vaccination of children is not child health per se (though the benefits do outweigh the risk in  children, the overall risk is is very low unless the child  has other health problems) but epidemic control: children live in families and can easily infect other members some of whom may be elderly and/or high risk. Infections in childten -- easily acquired at school - can fuel spread of infection in the ovrerall population. 

 

Public health / publicly funded disease control measures are one thing, individual clinical decision making is quite another.  A number of vaccinations recommended by the Pediatric Society of Thailand are not (at least as yet) part of the public vaccine schedule, but they remain recommended and can be obtained, for a price, at private facilities. Parents can and do make individualized choices for their children. OP had a bad experience with severe COVID in one of his children some years backs and wants to vaccinate themboth now. Nothing wrong with that, even if there is no mass vaccination campaign underway or justification on public health grounds. Public health measures are basef on the iverall population and , of necessity, always take cost benefit into account, and (unfortunately) are also not exempt from political considerations. 

 

 

[anrcaccount]

7 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Current Thai Pediatric Guidelines (2024) include vaccination of children but there is no mass vaccination  campaign for anyone at this time let alone children.

 

As already mentioned  Thailand also  does not have the newest version of vaccine.

 

The government has really not formulated  a coherent response to this latest outbreak yet.  No new guidelines issued and if anything is being done on vaccine procurement it has not been publicized. 

 

Given the recent study findings it can safely be said that there will not be any mass vaccination of children in Thailand unless the epidemiological or  clinical picture significantly changes. 

 

The main argument for mass COVID vaccination of children is not child health per se (though the benefits do outweigh the risk in  children, the overall risk is is very low unless the child  has other health problems) but epidemic control: children live in families and can easily infect other members some of whom may be elderly and/or high risk. Infections in childten -- easily acquired at school - can fuel spread of infection in the ovrerall population. 

 

Public health / publicly funded disease control measures are one thing, individual clinical decision making is quite another.  A number of vaccinations recommended by the Pediatric Society of Thailand are not (at least as yet) part of the public vaccine schedule, but they remain recommended and can be obtained, for a price, at private facilities. Parents can and do make individualized choices for their children. OP had a bad experience with severe COVID in one of his children some years backs and wants to vaccinate themboth now. Nothing wrong with that, even if there is no mass vaccination campaign underway or justification on public health grounds. Public health measures are basef on the iverall population and , of necessity, always take cost benefit into account, and (unfortunately) are also not exempt from political considerations. 

 

 

 

Thank you, yes makes sense.

 

Summary, the covid vaccine is unnecessary for the vast majority of children.

 

However, if parents wish to vaccinate their children they can make this choice, safely, as an individual health decision for their children.

 

 

 

 

[anrcaccount]

8 hours ago, Na Fan said:

which countries are those? 

 

The US has just released some questionable "advise"...

 

Most countries no longer recommend covid vaccination for children (excepting those with severe existing conditions). 

 

UK, Germany, Australia..... many more examples. 

[EVENKEEL]

7 hours ago, Magictoad said:

We don't think they are unnecessary and we don't trust your medical qualifications. I trust doctors and nurses who incidentally; wear masks throughout the hospitals, everywhere in the hospital.  Because masks stop airborne infections. Please stop using this forum for your looney anti vax campaign.  I guess you are an American

because no British fall for these conspiracy theories.  They just go to their doctor twice a year to get their free vaccinations on the NHS.

Respectfully yours

I'm guessing you're still wearing a mask everywhere you go. Good for you. My comment was based on facts and statistics. 

 

COVID-19 usually causes mild symptoms in kids — most commonly, fever and cough. Most children recover in one to two weeks with at-home care. But kids with certain underlying medical conditions face a higher risk of serious illness and hospitalization.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/covid-in-children

 

 

[Hawaiian]

9 hours ago, Na Fan said:

which countries are those? 

 

The US has just released some questionable "advise"...

More than just questionable.  Totally conflicting.  Department of Health & Human Services says one thing and the CDC says just the opposite.  What a mess!

[Captain Flack]

Reported troll posts removed.

 

@JaxxBKK this is the health forum where posters seek advice, not to push your political agenda.

[newbee2022]

On 5/30/2025 at 12:15 PM, Na Fan said:

According to Pfizer, the vaccines are now available (and according to Bangkok Hospital also recommended) for children above 6 months. 

 

But, I can't seem to find a hospital that has them for kids?

 

Does anyone know where to go to get them for 3/6 year olds? Outside of Thailand would even be an option, I guess if there's some silliness going on again.

 

Cheers

I know where to get in Chiang Mai. Where are you at present?

[anrcaccount]

16 hours ago, Magictoad said:

We don't think they are unnecessary and we don't trust your medical qualifications. I trust doctors and nurses who incidentally; wear masks throughout the hospitals, everywhere in the hospital.  Because masks stop airborne infections. Please stop using this forum for your looney anti vax campaign.  I guess you are an American

because no British fall for these conspiracy theories.  They just go to their doctor twice a year to get their free vaccinations on the NHS.

Respectfully yours

 

I'll leave the differing opinions on the effectiveness of PPE aside, but he does have a valid point.

 

"Unnecessary" is the correct description for covid vaccinations for the vast majority of children, and the health authorities of the world broadly agree on that. 

 

Please be aware that that the NHS doesn't offer free covid vaccinations for children, unless in the exceptional case they have a severe condition.

 

 

[HK MacPhooey]

On 5/30/2025 at 1:39 PM, Na Fan said:

Unnecessary? 

 

Daughter had it when she was 3 and half, and she went through a horrible ordeal.

If your daughter had a Covid variant when she was 3 1/2 and had it bad then she probably has all the immunity she needs for the current strains - we know from SARS, MERS, Covid 19 etc that the strains get weaker after each iteration but the WHO and other NWO type organisations prefer to push their vaccine narrative and are only too eager to put the planet in lockdown at first opportunity… or maybe people haven’t learnt🤔

[HK MacPhooey]

1 hour ago, anrcaccount said:

 

I'll leave the differing opinions on the effectiveness of PPE aside, but he does have a valid point.

 

"Unnecessary" is the correct description for covid vaccinations for the vast majority of children, and the health authorities of the world broadly agree on that. 

 

Please be aware that that the NHS doesn't offer free covid vaccinations for children, unless in the exceptional case they have a severe condition.

 

 

Good to know the NHS is making a sensible decision for once or maybe they need the money for their pediatric gender conversion

 

On 5/30/2025 at 12:19 PM, EVENKEEL said:

As a parent I ask you why you'd give a child an unnecessary vaccine for children. 

 

On 5/30/2025 at 3:47 PM, Sheryl said:

 The newest vaccine ever brought into Thailand  is the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5, and that, only some places have; the ones I know of are all in Bangkok. The newer 2024-2025 Pfizer vaccine is not available. 

 

The XBB 1.5 vaccine will  still be of some help especially in completely unvaccinated children who have never had COVID (these will be a minority, see below). Older vaccines, which might be all that one can find outside of Bangkok, might still help but are not approved in Thailand for children under current guidelines; only the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5 is approved for chldren under current Thai guidelines. 

 

Last I heard (admittedly about  year old info) these places had the XBB1.5:

Mahidol University Thai Travel Clinic 

Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute 

Bumrungrad Hosptal

 Praram 9 Hospital

quite possible some other large private hospitals in Thailand now have it too

 

 HOWEVER, these have only the adult formulation.  As you likely know, the dosage for children is different from adults. 3 mcg dose for your 3 year old and 10 mcg dose for your 6 year old.  The vaccine is otherwise the same and per  the guidelines of the Thai Pediatric Society, if the pediatric formulation is unavailable, fractional dose can be used i.e., they can give a partial amount of adult dose vial.  Therefore even if a hospital or clinic does not have the 3 or 10 mcg dose, they can use a partial quantity of the adult dose -- but you'd want to make sure they understand this and calculate correctly.  And they will probably end up wasting most of the vial, which if quantities are scarce, they may be unwilling to do. Do not expect anyone answering phone or email to know this, they will likely answer only that they do not have the pediatric vaccine, which is technically true.  Doctor may or may not be willing to partial dose from use adult vial , and it would take direct doctor order to make that happen. Which you may or may not be able to get.

 

While the official COVID vaccine guidelines have not so far changed, the current outbreak is of an extremely contagious but unusually mild  (for most people) variant. A recent study found that 80% of young children in Thailand already have immunity to COVID. This study has not yet been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal but it has been widely publicized in the general media and a Chulalongkorn researcher even took the unusual step of posting it on Facebook.  While any change in guidelines remains to be seen, pretty much everyone knows about this finding and it will probably influence provider behavior/willingness to use a fractional dose from an adult vial to vaccinate a child if there are no special risk factors present. 

 

If you have not already, you can try asking Bumrungrad and Praram 9. Do not ask if the have the  pediatric vaccine (they don't); ask if they have Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5 vaccine available. If they do, ask if they will administer fractional dose based on age to children (better yet, go and ask this in person -- Thais tend to always say no to anything they are unsure of, and whomever you could reach by phone or email will not be a decision maker).

 

If it is any comfort, your 6 year old, having already had COVID for sure, probably has good immunity and your 3 year old also likely (80% chance) has some immunity, and the current strains are much less severe than what was around when your now 6 year old got it.

 

Of course if either of your children has special risk factors due to chronic disease, or if there is an older person in the same household with unusual risk factor that needs to be protected,  that changes matters and best to go see a pediatrician at a hospital you know has the XBB.1.5 vaccine in stock to press your case. 

 

 

 

 

 

21 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

@Sheryl thanks for your usual sensible advice.

 

In my home countries (x2), which have very strong, well respected health systems, covid vaccines are not recommended for children under 18 without existing complex health conditions.

 

So for the vast majority of children, covid vaccines are not recommended. 

 

Does Thailand offer different public health guidance?

 

 

program.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

11 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

 

Most countries no longer recommend covid vaccination for children (excepting those with severe existing conditions). 

 

UK, Germany, Australia..... many more examples. 

 

The U.S. posture on COVID vaccines for children is evolving as we speak, and still allows for childhood COVID vaccinations if the parents and doctor involved agree.

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 5/30/2025 at 3:47 PM, Sheryl said:

The newest vaccine ever brought into Thailand  is the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5, and that, only some places have; the ones I know of are all in Bangkok. The newer 2024-2025 Pfizer vaccine is not available. 

 

Sheryl, the Thai Travel Clinic at Mahidol Univ. in BKK, on their updated website, specifically says they have the JN.1 COVID vaccine, which here I believe would be from Pfizer, and which dates to the 2024-2025 version that replaced the XBB version....

 

However, I don't know what their posture would be toward children, and I haven't talked to them directly of late on the subject.  When I dealt with them in the past, AFAICR, they were only doing COVID vaccines for adults.

 

 

 

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

 

 

FDA Approves and Authorizes Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants

August 22, 2024

 

"In early June, the FDA advised manufacturers of licensed and authorized COVID-19 vaccines that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) should be monovalent JN.1 vaccines." [emphasis added]

 

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-and-authorizes-updated-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-better-protect-against-currently

 

 

 

[anrcaccount]

37 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The U.S. posture on COVID vaccines for children is evolving as we speak, and still allows for childhood COVID vaccinations if the parents and doctor involved agree.

 

 

 

Yes, but there's a difference between "recommended", and "allowed/eligible" - if the parents make an individual health decision on behalf of their child.

 

The US ( and many/most other countries) do not "recommend" the covid vaccine generally for children. 

 

However, children are eligible for one if the parents decide this is necessary. Individual health choice. That's a good thing. 

 

It remains correct, that for the vast majority of children, the covid vaccine is unnecessary. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Many pediatricians and leading pediatrician groups in the U.S. disagree with that assessment, especially for the youngest children who never before have received any COVID vaccinations, and thus are at greater risk of COVID illness. (Subsequent booster shots for previously vaccinated children is a different and separate discussion.)

 

"Although there is no consensus among [U.S. CDC advisory group] ACIP members yet, O’Leary, who is an AAP liaison to ACIP, said removing the universal recommendation for kids under 2, where they’re seeing the highest rates of hospitalizations among children, is not on the table.  “We are not discussing removing that recommendation for the younger kids,” he said. “And whether that cut-off is 2 or 4 or 5 — right now, the discussion has basically been for kids under 5 to continue with the universal recommendation.” [emphasis added]

...

“A non-negligible proportion of children are hospitalized with COVID-19 or even end up in ICU, and a small but non-negligible proportion suffer inflammatory syndromes (MIS-C) after infection, or suffer from post-COVID-19 sequelae (PASC),” he said, referring to long COVID.

 

According to provisional CDC data presented in the last ACIP meeting, COVID-19 was an underlying cause of death for 152 children under 18 years of age between September 2023 and August 2024. “About 4 of every 10 children hospitalized with COVID-19 did not have any pre-existing conditions,” Moser told us."

 

(more)

 

FactCheck.org

May 7, 2025

https://www.factcheck.org/2025/05/rfk-jr-misleads-about-safety-of-covid-19-vaccine-in-children/

 

 

 

[runamok27]

22 hours ago, Magictoad said:

We don't think they are unnecessary and we don't trust your medical qualifications. I trust doctors and nurses who incidentally; wear masks throughout the hospitals, everywhere in the hospital.  Because masks stop airborne infections. Please stop using this forum for your looney anti vax campaign.  I guess you are an American

because no British fall for these conspiracy theories.  They just go to their doctor twice a year to get their free vaccinations on the NHS.

Respectfully yours

Most European countries either do not recommend them for children or only for children with underlying conditions. Japan only recommends them for children with underlying conditions. Those are some countries with very good medical qualifications. I believe in vaccinations and have had pretty much every vaccine and they do work but there is too much data out there from credible sources that is not favorable towards these vaccines and that is the reason for the caution. From what I have read, they are not really sure about a lot of things regarding this particular vaccine. Considering that the new strains of Covid keep getting weaker, this is 100% based on science, vaccination is not warranted unless you have underlying disease seems to be the consensus and taking any medication carries inherent risks so a lot of people and medical professionals do not recommend taking this vaccine anymore.

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Sheryl, the Thai Travel Clinic at Mahidol Univ. in BKK, on their updated website, specifically says they have the JN.1 COVID vaccine, which here I believe would be from Pfizer, and which dates to the 2024-2025 version that replaced the XBB version....

 

However, I don't know what their posture would be toward children, and I haven't talked to them directly of late on the subject.  When I dealt with them in the past, AFAICR, they were only doing COVID vaccines for adults.

 

 

 

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

 

 

FDA Approves and Authorizes Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants

August 22, 2024

 

"In early June, the FDA advised manufacturers of licensed and authorized COVID-19 vaccines that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) should be monovalent JN.1 vaccines." [emphasis added]

 

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-and-authorizes-updated-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-better-protect-against-currently

 

 

 

Yes, I saw this and mentioned it on the other thread currently running. Apparently Jomtien Hospital also has so good chance so do some other private hospitals. 

 

No pediatric doses but if doctor is willing, they can do a fractional dose from adult vial if so inclined.