I finally got a
first vaccination shot of the Covid-19 vaccine!
It was the Oxford-Astra/Zeneca one.
My second jab is scheduled for mid-October. It had not been easy getting it.
I had been
trying to pre-register for shots for a long, long time, through my doctor,
through my wife’s efforts, and via English language Thai news venues. But the vaccination programs for expats like
me are chaotic, inept, and almost useless.
The US Embassy is no help (unlike the French and British ones).
But there is a
heroic British blogger, Richard Barrow, an expat English teacher living here,
who’s Twitter alerts always give us valuable heads-up on numerous important
matters through the years. He pointed
out a limited-time opportunity for expats my age to register appointments to a
major vax center to get free jabs. And,
after many failed attempts, I finally got registered.
It was at the
Bang Sue Grand Station vax center, the one I visited on a recon a few weeks ago
(as reported here on 3 July) to check out the possibility of my parents-in-law
getting the vax. (I concluded that it
was far too crowded for them.)
So, I went to
the Grand Station for my registered appointment. It is an incredibly enormous place, and when
future train lines are completed, it will be the largest land transport hub in
all of Southeast Asia. There were not
just hundreds of people there – there were thousands! (Here at Bang Sue, they have been vaccinating
20,000 people a day; one million in two months!)
Bewildered, I showed
a Royal Thai cop my SMS appointment verification on my phone, and he graciously
led me through hundreds of meters of zig-zagging paths through the crowds to
the station I needed.
We were herded
into lines, standing and shuffling for an hour.
Social distancing rules were rather lax because of the huge crowds,
which was quite alarming, but I reasoned that it might be worth it if I could get
a jab. (Does this look like a
Super-Spreader event to you?) It was
very well organized under the circumstances, and the volunteer workers tried to
keep us moving and as separated as possible.
Air circulation in the vast Grand Station seemed to be extremely
good.
We finally got
to the paperwork processing area and were shown to seats, spaced out in
rows. As someone finished their
paperwork at a station, everyone moved up a seat closer. (An older Indian gentleman in front of me
coughed quite a bit, and folks in the lines of seats on either side looked over
to him in alarm; I soon got up and relinquished my spot in the seating que in
order to get away from the herd.)
After walking
around, with a restroom break, I came back to the processing area and found a
vacant spot, as it was late in the day and crowds were starting to thin. The young lady there didn’t speak English
well, but she processed my passport and address info. She had called in someone who spoke enough
English to help direct me from there. I
went to a jab station and got the Astra/Zeneca dose, then did the 30-minute
observation wait to make sure I had no bad reactions. The Thai staff and volunteers were extraordinary in the assistance they provided.
Then I took the
(practically empty) public transit back home.
Feeling very good about finally getting the vaccine. I had no after-effects, not even a sore
arm.
Steps from
here? I could take the second
Astra/Zeneca jab scheduled for mid-October.
Or, I could take the first Moderna jab that Tuk registered for all four of
us (and paid for) in October – if it arrives as promised. The word now is that mixing different
vaccines often has better results. I
will ask my doctor when I routinely see him in September and figure out the
best course from there.
Tuk needs the
Moderna (in October) as a booster, since the Sinovac jabs she got earlier will
lose effectiveness at 50% every 40 days.
Her parents, in their late 80s, need any vaccines they can get, and we
haven’t been able to get them a vax. So,
it’s not over yet.
Meanwhile, the
Covid crisis here in Thailand is worse than ever, escalating. We are still officially at “near-lockdown”,
as we can only venture out to buy food and medicine. Otherwise, the streets are eerily empty.
-Zenwind.
.
