With the rains come the coughs, runny noses and sick days. Aware of this, public health officials have prepared four million doses of flu vaccine to be given for free to at-risk residents starting Saturday.
Pregnant women, children under 2 and seniors over 65 as well as people with bad hearts, asthma, failing kidneys, diabetes, chemotherapy, AIDS or weight over 100 kilograms are among those eligible for free shots, according to Suwanchai Wattana Yingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department.
They can be obtained at any public hospital and participating private facilities. After being told no by Samitivej Sukhumvit and several other private downtown sickhouses, we suggest sticking to the many public facilities such as Lerdsin, King Chulalongkorn Memorial, Phramongkutklao, Police General, Kluaynamthai and Ladprao General in Bangkok.
Public health centers such as those located downtown near BTS Ekkamai, in Khlong Toei or Lumphini Park are offering the free shots to those fitting the above requirements.
The shots will be available through Aug. 31.
Based on WHO recommendations, they are targeting three strains of vaccine-preventable influenza: A Michigan (H1N1), A Switzerland (H3N2) and B Colorado (Victoria lineage), all of which are prevalent in the kingdom.
For more information call the health hotline at 1422. (Ed. note: I called. Press 9 for English – Don’t expect much, but they’ll try their best to get you an answer.)
Not in one of the at-risk groups? Any public hospital will give a flu shot for about THB750 (US$24). Private hospitals may charge twice as much or more.
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