Are we near to having a vaccine and returning to Thailand?

[Jellybean]

Are you perhaps thinking along these lines?

Tempting though your question is StevieWonders, I better play it safe and would refer you to the answer I gave some moments ago.

I am staggered there is some form of rationing and it is necessary to have an appointment to get a flu vaccine. In Bangkok I walked into a hospital and got it in ten minutes.

As I alluded to in my earlier reply, Armando, this year is very different, caused by the pressure on our health service and the extra protective measures required due to Covid-19. The flu vaccination would normally be given at my local general practitioner practice and several days set aside during which eligible patients can attend at any time during the allotted days and obtain their flu vaccination. From memory, this usually takes around 15-20 minutes with a steady stream of patients being vaccinated in an efficient conveyor belt manner. But this year, due to Covid-19, my local surgery will not be carrying out the vaccination programme and I am required to attend during a one hour time slot at a designated local medical centre.

When I lived in Bangkok, due to a recurring problem with my left eye, I had regular experience of two local hospitals, the BNH Hospital on Convent Road and the Bangkok Christian Hospital on Silom Road (BCH). What struck me the most was that I could attend either hospital as a walk-in patient without an appointment. In the case of the BNH, which is the more expensive of the two hospitals, on average I could register at reception, see a nurse, see a doctor, pay the bill and collect my prescription within 30-40 minutes. The timescale at BCH was somewhat longer at one to two hours from start to finish.

In the UK, when I lived in London, my primary ophthalmology consultant was at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell (KCH). I was seen annually, but when an issue arose, an appointment could take many weeks if not months to obtain. And once there, with an appointment, it could take one to two hours before I was seen, then a further hour or more as I was dealt with by a nurse, a doctor then finally seen by the consultant. I was treated at KCH over a 15 year period and the above is typical of my experience. So yes, I am envious of the efficiency I experienced at the Bangkok hospitals I attended but, of course, I had to pay directly for my treatment and not through my taxes and a national insurance scheme (although I no longer contribute to the scheme). And lastly, apologies for the length of my reply.