Look guys, I took the HPV vaccine before and I remember reading all kinds of hellish stuff in the internet and I think there were serious issues in development with one company. I was not on the target age range yet I took it. I read the list of aftereffects and I took it. Why? Because cervical cancer sucks. And anal cancer worse. And the older you get, the more partners you have and those partners have had more partners. Do the math, odds are not in your favor.
The day they develop HIV vaccine I’ll take it. And malaria. And dengue. Yes, I’m aiming for 100 years old. Or at least get to 80 in one piece. Or 60 still walking.
In the U.S. you get a “COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card” issued by the CDC with stickers applied each time you receive a shot. The stickers show the Pfizer Lot#, Admin Date and site and are initialed by the shooter. You’re told to hold onto the card as it’s regarded as an official record of your vax status.
Mine does not have a sticker - everything is hand-written, and doesn’t look official at all. According to this article, authentic blank cards can easily be found on eBay,
Damn, I mean I hope they get this sorted for the second vaccination. No need to get it at all for me if I don’t get a covid19 vaccination passport or similar crap.
It’s pretty stupido using cards as vaccine passports. PCR test certificates can be faked too though. I’m thinking blockchain . . . or maybe a smart chip “credit card”.
This is why the there are so many extra doses available that we are able to get vaccines so easily. This is also why it’s going to take a very, very long time for herd immunity to happen, not just in Taiwan but around the world. It’s sad and scary that people are so against vaccines in the 21st freaking century.
It is amazing how the community here feels about the AZ vaccine. Telling people I am getting it has almost 100% caused them to be surprised and telling me how the vaccine is dangerous.
As above somebody posted the UK results very clearly show that the vaccine works and is as safe as any medicine. Completely lost how people consider a local, almost untested product a better option. I think its still too early to even say the mRna vaccines are better, looks like it now but we need another 12 months to say for sure.
I am hoping also the 8 week time between shots could be shortened.
And the shorter the interval, the lower the efficacy with AZ (which the surprisingly many on this forum who just want to have a certificate might not care about)
I don’t care about that. I’m pretty sure just having high enough vitamin D levels (50-70ng/ml) is as effective as the vaccination itself. I only care about the certificate. I do hope they get it sorted by the second jab.
I’m not afraid of the vaccination either however. Will be taking paracetamol however…
My experiences in MacKay (Taipei) Hospital this morning, getting the vaccine: successful, but boy I hope they streamline this! At least there are lots of people along the way to help you out if you look confused - but there isn’t much English. Whole process took me about 90 minutes to get the vaccine itself, two hours total including post-vaccine wait.
8:50am: Go through main entrance (only entrance currently open I think), run insurance card through machine to enter.
Turn to right and register at front desk. If you’ve never gone to MacKay before, I’m pretty sure you need to fill in forms. I’ve gone to Danshui MacKay many times, but I’m not sure if I’d been to this one before: I didn’t fill in any forms. I gave them my card and they gave me a yellow piece of paper with my appointment number - the same information I’d already got when I registered online a couple of days ago, telling me I was #12 on the list for that clinic for the morning.
From main entrance: turn left into, um, 平安樓? Take sliding walkway to second floor. Look for the Family Medicine / 家庭醫學科 area. Find your room number. Push through mob. Insert card so they know you’re there. Back out of mob and wonder why they’re all gathered just outside the darn door.
Look for desk with paperwork: fill out forms with ARC number, name, reason you want the vaccine; I chose “Other” and wrote in “Family”. You also need to fill in blood pressure and pulse on this form - they have a couple of blood pressure machines around the room that you can use. They were definitely trying to figure out how to set this all up better - while I was there, they put up extra tables and brought out other chairs.
Keep an eye on number as it moves (starting around 9am) from 2 to 5 to 8 to 1 (?!) to 10, 11, 12. Push through mob when it’s your turn - around 9:30am now, I guess? Give attending nurse paperwork. They’ll tell you to wait outside the door. So now you’re part of the mob.
They’ll call you in. Yay, injection! Oh, nope, not yet. Not for a long while. Instead a brief interview with a doctor about the possible side effects of the vaccine, etc., etc. Wait outside door again in mob.
Get paperwork back from nurse, including payment form. Leave that area - walk back to top of the moving between-floors walkway, stand in another line to pay, NT$580. At this point I’m wondering why steps #1-6 were necessary.
9:55am: Go down moving walkway. Turn right: injection clinic is right there. Get another number to wait again. Someone will probably grab your paperwork and get this number for you.
10:13am: Your number will be called. Go inside the injection center, sit down, and wait a little more.
10:18am: Get the jab. Easy, painless, fast.
They’ve got a bunch of rows of seats: sit and read or play on your phone or send celebratory picture of your vaccination card to friends. Wait 30 minutes to make sure you’re not suffering any kind of adverse reaction.
10:50am: walk out. I asked the nurse if it was OK and they looked at me like I was odd for asking.
Go out and have a nice lunch.
They want you to wait 8 to 12 weeks for the next one; it’s up to you to make the next appointment, even though June 16 is pencilled onto the vaccination card they gave me. I have not yet started to worry about whether or not there will be enough AZ vaccines in Taiwan at that time, nor will I think about it for six more weeks. You get a yellow card, passport-sized, “COVID-19 Vaccination Record”.
Thanks. So do you know,what time they start the morning appointments? I’m number three, nit sure what time I’m meant to arrive… I also signed up at Mackay.
Perfect, I will see how it works out in Taichung hospital today. They said via phone that they can vaccinate up to 300 people per day. But waiting times unknown
Theoretically 9:00 I think. The numbers started clicking up around then anyway. The vaccine clinic section actually opens at 8:30, but you need to go through all the other rigmarole first.
Thank you for letting us know the process and glad to hear you are ok. I’m thinking about signing up. My husband doesn’t trust it yet and said he’ll bring flowers when I get the shot.
