Moderna
Pfizer-BioNTech
Janssen (Johnson & Johnson)
Astra-Zeneca
Russian Sputnik - umm - 'vaccine'
Chinese Sinovac - umm - 'vaccine'
Any 'new' vaccines not mentioned above
It was a long story. Last week I went to the village clinic and the gf grumbled a bit, she doesn't do angry, to find out how anyone around here can get vaccinated. You have to make an appointment but there are no appointments to be made. To get rid of her the staff told her that the local centre would have AZ the following day.
The gf had to work so I rocked up alone at the vaccination centre. It was beyond busy and I had no idea what was happening. Being English, I joined the queue. It was sheltered and seated, still hot until it rained and the floor then flooded. Slowly we moved forward along the lines of chairs. It was, for Thailand, fairly well organised although social distancing didn't seem to have been a planning point.
Nearly three uncomfortable hours later I was getting close to the front - and then they stopped for lunch. Fair enough, they were really working non-stop and I was surprised when they started up again after only 20 minutes. I didn't know what to expect when I got to the front, even though the governor had talked about the old and at-risk groups as the priority there were plenty of people queueing who were clearly neither. Maybe they had appointments, I didn't know.
The gf turned up unexpectedly to check on my progress. Fortunately I had made no progress at all with the attractive woman in the adjacent line. The gf wandered around and the chap with the microphone at the front didn't seem delighted to see her, this not being our first visit and he having turned us away the last time.
Enter fate, in the form of an old family friend who is important somewhere and just happened by. The gf took my pink ID and it got passed around, then my turn came and I was nodded through. I later figured out that the old family friend has a wife who is very senior in the hospital management, in fact senior in the provincial government healthcare management. I didn't see her but I do not doubt that it was all on her sayso.
Outside had been a fairly disciplined queue, inside was a zoo. I found my way through the process and along the way met some delightful nurses who managed to fill in all the forms. As an aside, I have this theory that Isan women look more attractive with masks on. Charming eyes.
Not quite finally, a very pleasant nurse stuck a dose of AZ into my arm, almost painlessly. Then I had to sit for half an hour and have a final blood pressure test before being allowed out. A large hall full of unvaccinated proletariat wandering hither and thither, it was the highest risk venue I have been in all year. I escaped with a plaster on my arm and a piece of paper with an appointment for a second jab in October.
It is a shame that the process is so lacking in transparency. An older Thai man there was complaining that this was his third visit and he still couldn't get a jab.
Meanwhile, total respect for all the healthcare professionals. They were working flat out, they were all unfailingly polite to me and I heard later that they finished some time after 9pm that night. IMHO those healthcare workers deserve all the booster jabs that the government can find for them.
Despite the vagaries of the process, I later received a Line message from the Mor Phrom app telling me that I had received one dose of AZ. {That was helpful.} When I checked, the app did indeed show that I had been jabbed. Thailand works in mysterious ways.
That's the $64,000 question. All anyone can say at the moment is that the first batches of Moderna should be incountry sometime in October. What I'm reading is that although progression has been made in the procurement process, the detail of the actual order hasn't been released so currently unknown contractual quantity or delivery dates.
My second AZ dose is in September, and the first Moderna sometime in October at the earliest. Again, as I understand it, there is a recommended four week gap between Moderna doses.
Just been informed that they are shortening the time between astra doses from an original 16 weeks, to 12 weeks.
No link yet, just what I was told.
UK Policy:
You will receive 2 injections. You will be told when you need to return for your second injection of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.
The second injection can be given between 4 and 12 weeks after the first injection.
Information for UK recipients on COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca (Regulation 174) - GOV.UK
Got first shot today, It was fine fine fine fine...
Posted this U turn on the other Covid thread but will put it here as well.
Sinovac dumped as second-dose vaccine in favour of AstraZeneca
The 16 week scenario was never enacted, it was part of a proposal that also saw the number of doses per vial increased from 10 to 12, so the official status remains a 12 week dosage gap. That said, there was a proposal based on recommendations to further reduce the gap to 8 weeks, though nothing further on this yet, which could be due to the AZ production problems and needing to meet the current schedule let alone shorten it.
Looks like you got caught in the transition of schedules. Here's a piece on it:
Time between AZ jabs shortened
From recollection, I registered on the "Phuket Must Win" site on the 16th June and was given a list of date/time as well as two different location options. The ones I selected for both doses were confirmed.
Glad to see that you guys are starting to get your jabs.
PAG, exactly what happened. My employer has said that the schedule will be moved up. I believe it will be as the first injection was very well organized. As I said I declined Sinovac on July 8, as they said they would have Astra the next week. Texted me on the Monday and received it on a Tuesday.
Just booked mine for this Friday, then 12 weeks until the second.
I'm in North NSW Australia.
At last.
I received my first shot of Astra Zeneca this morning administered by the local government hospital on the campus of a local university.
The second dose is scheduled for early October.
I thought that the whole process once arriving at the location was well organised and professional.
(I don't often say that about Thailand.)
My thanks to the hospital staff involved
Got 2nd Pfizer jab yesterday; no reaction to either other than slight irritation at jab location.
^Yes indeed. With 2000 of my closest kinda friends.
Knew that was coming.......
^No, although the VA clinic in USEMB MANILA has been quite active. Their priority, however, is disabled or retired veterans - neither of which I am. They stated that eventually, once those cases are done, they plan to reach out to all veterans living here. It's an ambitious plan given their resources and the number of veterans living here, but I would not have made the list for many months, if at all.
I got mine through the local government program here - getting Pfizer, which is rare here, was simply luck of the draw.
I even got a nifty ID card saying what vaccine I had and when and stating that I had completed the process.
Last edited by Davis Knowlton; 21-07-2021 at 02:34 PM.
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