Getting the 2nd shot in Taiwan for COVID-19 vaccines

I might be wrong, but I don’t remember ever paying a first-time registration fee at a hospital - as far as I remember, the registration fee for the first visit has always been the same as the registration fee for subsequent visits.

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Could well be. Most of these visits I’m led around and told to fill in forms and sign things and occasionally pay, and I’m unclear what’s going on. A clever scamming ring could make a killing off me in a hospital lobby. I may be confusing the first-visit paperwork that often seems necessary with fees that happen every time. I’m also lucky enough to only have limited experience comparing what happens with multiple clinics and multiple visits.

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That’s what I suspect. I’ll find out from her on Monday when she registers, and report it here.

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Checked at Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital to scout for information on how to book and the guy at the entrance refused to let me in and said: “There are so many people in Taiwan who have not taken the first shot yet. Your second shot is not on the agenda”. Professionalism at its best.

Anyway it’s not over, of course. Gonna be back hammering on Monday.

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Don’t let the bastards grind you down. :slightly_smiling_face:

Guy

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MacKay now has updated information for those seeking the second dose of AstraZeneca. Huh, looks like if you go to their registration page, you can book for TOMORROW (20/100 slots taken in morning, 19/100 currently taken in afternoon). The Wednesday bookings are both about half full as I type this.

Implication is that you can only use this if you got the 1st dose at MacKay, but I may have that wrong.

Hmm. I’m considering registering for tomorrow and canceling the NTUH appointment I’ve got for Wednesday. BUT with semester-end, I’ve got a shit-ton of work to do over the next few days.

Information below copied from their information page, Chinese and English both from their page:

本院加開施打AZ第二劑疫苗特別門診~

一、本院自6/28起加開施打AZ第二劑疫苗特別門診,並隨政府配發疫苗期程直至疫苗用罄。
二、目前不同廠牌之 COVID-19疫苗原則不建議交替使用,AZ疫苗與其他疫苗接種間隔,建議間隔至少14天
三、適用對象:
(1) 4/19前 於本院施打第一劑者:請於6/28施打第二劑。
(2) 4/20-4/21 於本院施打第一劑者:請於6/30施打第二劑。
(3)上述若為孕婦第二劑,請掛孕婦特別門診。
(4)其餘已於本院施打第一劑者(滿10-12週),配合疫苗配發期程,陸續開放接種。
四、攜帶證件:,請持 健保卡疫苗接種紀錄黃卡 (黃卡若遺失,請先掛家醫科門診申請補發,費用另計)。
五、看診地點:台北馬偕戶外門診(中山北路入口旁,近嘉新大樓巷內) (位置圖)
六、請依預約掛號時間(上午診11點前、下午診16點前)完成報到,逾時恕無法施打。
七、採 網路預約掛號預計6/25下午開放預約掛號。

COVID-19: bookings for AstraZeneca (​AZ) vaccine

►2nd does appointment for AstraZeneca (​AZ) vaccine is OPEN in MacKay Memorial Hospital
►Notes
2.1 When the clinic starts: it opens on June 28 and operates following the government’s vaccination guidelines.
2.2 Mixing COVID-19 vaccines are not suggested. Kindly note AZ vaccine needs to be given at least 14 days intervals with different coronavirus vaccines.
► Who are eligible?

  1. Get your first shot before April 19 in MacKay , please book the second shot appointment on June 28
  2. Get your first shot between April 20 and 21 in MacKay , please book the second shot appointment on June 30.
  3. If you’re pregnant when taking the second shot, please book a pregnant clinic.
    ► Required documents: National Health Insurance Card, Yellow Vaccination Card (If your yellow vaccination card is lost, please book Family Medicine Clinic to reissue it. Kindly note fee is applied.)
    ► Location: Outdoor Clinic in Taipei branch. (At the end of the lane next to the main entrance on Zhongshan N. Rd.) (Refer to the yellow box in this map)
    ► Please check-in according to your appointment time. (No late than 11 am in morning clinic, no late than 4 pm in afternoon clinic) Kindly note your vaccination would be withdrawn if you are late.
    ►How to book: make an appointment online via our booking system opens from the afternoon, June 25.

Source for now, but who knows when or if it’ll change!:
https://www.mmh.org.tw/webpage-tpe.php?id=207

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@lostinasia you are an asset to this community!

Guy

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Wait, what?! How dare you! Oh, never mind, thanks!

Eh, if I’m going to selfishly engage in a desperate search for vaccines (and procrastinate on all the marking I’m supposed to be doing), posting about it helps me feel less guilty about it.

It also helps me procrastinate.

Now where are those exams I’m supposed to be marking?

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14 days is short. I wonder where this comes from?
I seem to remember the paperwork from my 1st dose of AZ saying you shouldn’t have taken ANY other vaccines within 1 month.
I’m thinking about adding a 3rd dose of mRNA to my 2 AZ doses when I go abroad in August and wondering what the spacing should be between last AZ and the mRNA. I figure a month minimum.

Is it already posted? Those who got the 1st at abroad can get their 2nd in Taiwan too.

The questionnaire I filled out in the US before I got a Pfizer shot also asked if I had received any other vaccines in the past 14 days.

No other vaccine in the past month is the mantra I’ve heard.

The US, as usual, may be more flexible about such things.

Guy

Maybe, not sure, I was just responding to what that other person said. To be honest, the nurses where I went didn’t want to give me another vaccine period when I said that I had already gotten AZ (at that point well over a month previously) so I’m not sure its an issue of flexibility but I guess this isn’t pertinent to the discussion, so sorry to be off topic.

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Got it.

In Canada the authorities have started recommended Pfizer second shot after AZ first shot—but there needs to be a one month gap between the two IIRC.

Guy

Well, I’m now double-booked, one appointment in MacKay (Taipei City) for Wednesday morning, another appointment for NTUH for Wednesday morning. Obviously I’ll cancel one of them - probably NTUH, since I went to MacKay the first time around and I’m already in their system. But I’ll wait a day or two just in case things change.

I’m somewhat nervous (unduly so, I hope) that the Delta variant will lead to hospitals barricading the doors and shutting down this program and that’s why for now I’m hedging my bets.

Reassuring thing about MacKay’s system: I tried to register for tomorrow (ten weeks less two days after Dose 1), and the system wouldn’t let me do it - I got a warning that, nope, it hasn’t been ten weeks yet. And I was allowed for Wednesday. If I’d paid more attention to the quite clear instructions I’d have realized I wasn’t supposed to book for tomorrow anyway. I say it’s reassuring because it’s always nice to see hospital IT programs doing what they’re supposed to do. The interface looks so basic - it’s almost a surprise to see that algorithms are indeed functioning behind the scenes.

@Brianjones, @Shaun008: how’d the after-effects compare to Dose #1 for you? For #1, I slept horribly first night, felt hungover and exhausted (go figure) but functional the next day, and just a little bit off for a few days after that. I have the impression AZ usually has milder side-effects for the second dose, versus some of the other vaccines where it’s the opposite, but I may be wrong about that. And of course everyone’s different.

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I was vaccinated with J&J in April. Before I came back to Taiwan, I went to two pharmacies (not the chain I got my J&J from) to try to get a Pfizer shot as I read that J&J vaccine is not very protective against the Delta variant. Somehow they were able to find out that I already had the J&J shot, and refused. So there might be a database that has everyone’s covid vaccination record in the US (I did provide them with my SSN). Scary!

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I have nothing to add to this second shot was fine

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Cool, thanks. Bummer that this time I can’t head out to a nice restaurant to celebrate.

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You’ll be doing your share to make it possible for us to eventually get there!

EDIT: in the meantime, takeout from Baba Kevin’s awaits! :grin:

Guy

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Yup. My finger was hovering over the computer … morning or afternoon … morning or afternoon … and Baba Kevin’s apparently doesn’t open for dinner until 6pm, so morning it was!

There’s a good liquor shop somewhere around there too. Maybe look for something @marasan or @TT or others have been recommending in the whisky thread.

Lingering question is how or if I’m going to fit in getting to the tax office over the next few days.

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