Far-flung U.S. citizens clamour for vaccines from embassies

[GiveMeAColdOne]

15 minutes ago, timkeen08 said:

I'm not flying to Bangkok just for a vaccine.  See, it gets even more complicated then people think or want.  Without Thai governmental assistance or approval.  The US can't just run right in to our rescue and do what they want.  It can be a very complicated and lengthy process or simple solutions might be arranged if there really such an emergency fir some that just can't wait.  The US Embassy has already sent out STEP notifications to follow Thai government processes.

If you haven't kept up with the local news, the Thai government is actively requesting Embassies to assist by vaccinating their own citizens.  The process of bringing in the vaccines is not difficult.  The US Embassy also has a resident mission in Chiang Mai, but as many have noted already, private contractors can easily be used to provide a wider coverage.  Where there's a will there's a way.  This isn't nearly as complicated as pulling off a Cobra Gold exercise.

[placnx]

4 hours ago, d2b2 said:

Your guess is just wrong. I do not work for the Embassy (if I did, I would be vaccinated, as you insist), I am a retired expat with no connection to the Embassy. 
I think you read whatever you wanted into to my post, but none of what you imply is related to what I said. 
my post was regarding the professionalism and promptness of the embassy’s response to my questions. 
while you insist the Embassy staff are “useless sycophants”, my experience over the last 7 years has been quite to the contrary. My every interaction (and there have been many) with American Embassy staff has always been professional, respectful and efficient. 
I am disappointed that the State Department is seemingly abandoning American citizens living abroad in relation to the Covid vaccines, but the Embassy staff is not to blame. 
Perhaps your experience with Embassy personal is related to your own expectations and attitude. 

Over 40 years visiting then living in Thailand, US consular service has been in a steady downhill dive. Now the next project is building Fortress America on the outskirts of Chiang Mai.

[Why Me]

2 hours ago, GiveMeAColdOne said:

Thai government is actively requesting Embassies to assist by vaccinating their own citizens.

<deleted>. They aren't.

 

In any case, we can't have it both ways. Whining about being treated as outsiders by Thais -  see dual pricing, 90 day reports, and on and on. And then coming over all loyal US citizen come time for vaccination.

 

Pick a side. Actually, you already did if you chose to live here.

[placnx]

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

The wait is long because for years, at least since 2015, the embassy has been steadily making it more difficult to come in for services. When I first arrived here 11 years ago, no appointment was needed for anything. You just walked in during service hours Mon-Fri. When I renewed my passport less than two years ago, all that had changed. You could only do passport renewal on certain days at early hours. Other services were restricted to later in the day. And Friday was a holiday for ACS and no services were given whatsoever. Not to mention they no longer do income letters and you cannot come to the embassy to get a new passport, you must have it mailed to you. I think they have a lot of free time on their hands.

Maybe McKinsey should be sent in to do a study to send the sluff-offs to early retirement or posting for reeducation about work ethic.

[mikebike]

4 hours ago, oslooskar said:

how does wanting to get vaccinated at one's embassy equate to wanting to be mothered by one's own country?

Well... there is a contingent here who are behaving like offspring who have moved out of mom and dad's house to be independent individuals but need the security blanket of the parents fridge, mom doing their laundry, and bi-weekly meals!! ???????????? 

[Truth Will Set You Free]

The US Embassies are a joke! Don’t even know why tax payer dollar pay their salaries. Why are they here in foreign countries? They don’t do anything to support their people. 
 

This is why many South East Asia countries don’t want nothing to do with America. They destroyed everything they touch. 
 

To say to your own men and women who serviced in the Armed Forces and living aboard, you have no right to a vaccine, can be a issue for-coming to the country. 

[placnx]

1 hour ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

I doubt that any country knows the exact number of its citizens that live abroad -- never mind the country they are in and where they live within that country -- even the great USA!!!

 

It is not in the remit for embassies to offer medical assistance -- they can offer legal advice and support but I doubt that they have the facilities in 'every' country to administer vaccination other than to their own staff. They will have been given vaccine for embassy staff of course but not 'unknown' amounts for a hypothetical number of expats in a country!

 

Perhaps 'home base' assume that most countries reciprocate and vaccinate the whole of the population regardless of origin?

 

Ex-pats do not have the same 'facilities' received at 'home' -- especially, of course, if they live in a third-world country that has poor infrastructure to cope with mass pandemics -- or mismanage the situation through ignorance such as Thailand and the EU!

 

 

The US Embassy has a list of many US citizens residing here, those who have registered. For any who have not, it would be an incentive to do so if they knew it could be a way to get vaccinated. As for concerns about HIPAA confidentiality, expats could download a form and send it back to Embassy by post.

[mikebike]

Curious as to those suggesting U.S. embassy uses Thai hospitals and/or clinics to do the jabs if vaccine is sent here. Do you not think they may have their hands full giving 70 million Thais THEIR jabs? Asking for a friend... ????????

[AgMech Cowboy]

19 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

This is issue is Dead on Arrival.

I agree with you. When I left the USA I accepted the fact that the US Embassy is not here to 'service' me. They are a government to government entity. I'll either purchase my vaccine from a local hospital, provided they are permitted to give the vaccines, wait until I next go to the US, skip it altogether or will wait until the Thai government are inoculating farangs without a pink ID card.

[DogNo1]

The Thai government apparently didn't expect an outbreak of COVID before June when its local company is supposed to begin producing the AZ Vaccine.  Different plans to import vaccines before June were apparently discussed but vetoed by someone.   My doctors expected to be giving shots in April. For whatever reasons, importing vaccines seemed to be difficult probably partly for financial considerations.  Officials apparently naively believed that a large outbreak would not occur but it did.  Probably because of limited supplies of vaccines, Thai nationals were given priority for the injections.  For me, that was the last straw.  In every SE Asian country I have lived in, foreign nationals have always been prioritized over foreigners, but not in a stated governmental policy.  Thailand has taken a step too far.  

I don't know whether the details of the vaccine scandal will ever be exposed but I am curious to know what they are.

I hope that the Thai Government will remedy its mistakes and procure suffficient vaccines to inoculate everyone residing in Thailand, whether Thai or foreigner, as soon as possible.

[timkeen08]

1 hour ago, GiveMeAColdOne said:

If you haven't kept up with the local news, the Thai government is actively requesting Embassies to assist by vaccinating their own citizens.  The process of bringing in the vaccines is not difficult.  The US Embassy also has a resident mission in Chiang Mai, but as many have noted already, private contractors can easily be used to provide a wider coverage.  Where there's a will there's a way.  This isn't nearly as complicated as pulling off a Cobra Gold exercise.

What ever.

[Autonuaq]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

He worries it may be weeks or months before he can get a shot in Thailand. His business obligations - plus Thailand's strict two-week quarantine for people entering the country - make it unfeasible to return to the United States.

Not a so pragmatic view on things, vaccination is preventing things.

 

When it is impossible to get Thai vaccine  supplied by Goverment of buying at the private hospitals then one can see all as a part of the time you go backs on vacation back home the rest de as a part of a kind of sick leave.

 

When one gets infected with SARS-CoV-2 all can become worser then this short period of vacation and combined vaccination de days.

 

Just a matter of economics and priority.

[d2b2]

2 hours ago, placnx said:

Over 40 years visiting then living in Thailand, US consular service has been in a steady downhill dive. Now the next project is building Fortress America on the outskirts of Chiang Mai.

What hasn’t gone downhill in the last 40 years?

[ifmu]

RED CROSS

[Bradmeister]

Health care? 

 

How is an inoculation for a world pandemic desease labeled as Health Care?  

 

Mrs. Psaki must not remember The Small Pox Disease.   A feared killer from the past which devasted The Planet since Columbus discovered America. The 1950s brought another outbreak in the United States. 

 

Through America's history until the early 70's cowpox was routine to prevent Small Pox.

 

[Possibly the folks at the state department are too young by a decade or so....]

 

 Children in the United States were vaccinated in School auditoriums to ensure mandatory compliance.... not "Health Care", but highly contagious death. 

 

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" 

 

Gee, let me think about that....  Paid Federal Taxes for almost 40 years? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed.

 

A post with content that was copy and pasted from some site without a supporting link has been removed.

[MamaSan]

Where's the mask, Paul?

[JohnFlory]

As an American in this exact situation, I understand the difficulty. Embassies don't want to antagonize the locals or upset the local government. I am in S. Korea, my Thai wife is in Thailand. But if the locals know the Embassy staff or the US military in their country get the vaccine there, what is the diffence if I do?

[metisdead]

An off topic post about British politics has been removed.

 

Posts using ALL CAPS have been removed, please turn off your Caps Lock when posting. 

[JohnFlory]

12 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

As for the US Government supplying vaccines to overseas citizens. 

 

No, the choice to live overseas is a personal choice. We all accept that our medicare health benefits don't travel with us, so why on earth a covid shot would baffles be.

 

Your choices are wait for your country of residence to vaccinate you, or you can choose to get your a**ss on a plane and get it done in the US 

Why would it not?? It is my choice to live overseas...to pay US taxes, to vote, to be an American citizen. As it is with those who work at the Embassy. Why is my choice to get my ass back to the US, but they get the vaccine?  As I posted before, there are geopolitical reasons...don't embarrassthe local government...but there are no other reasons not to provide LIFE SAVING vaccines to your citizens. Especially when Wallgreens and CVS are throwing vaccines in the trash.

[mlmcleod]

10 hours ago, RocketDog said:

We should thank repubs who bravely face the virus without fear and make surplus vaccine doses readily available for those of us with less self-righteous indignation, and more sober reflection. 

A bonus would be a sharp reduction in repub congressional seats due to medical complications. 

Every time I hear of a Republican who contracts Covid-19, I am reminded of the Darwin Awards.  I really do not care if they infect each other and die.  After all the virus is just a deep state conspiracy!  What I do object to is those smug and arrogant individuals who care not for their fellow man.

[impulse]

If there were a famine in Thailand and the US Embassy brought in food just for Americans, what could possibly go wrong?

 

Same thing with the vaccines...

 

There's a free jab waiting for every US citizen.  You just have to get yourself to the USA to get it.

 

[impulse]

6 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

I agree with you. When I left the USA I accepted the fact that the US Embassy is not here to 'service' me.

 

Unless your name is Boeing or Halliburton, or you're related the The Big Guy.

 

[Mike k]

11 hours ago, Mansell said:

How about using U.S. AID to handle the whole process across the world? I have worked with them in Mongolia. Their job is helping some of the poorer countries with American money. Also the US military. I went into Pakistan and Afghanistan after 9/11 and the US military paid for around ten 40 foot containers of wheelchairs and crutches, winter blankets, medicines, etc for the refugees fleeing into Pakistan to escape the bombing in Afghanistan. The military has deep pockets. 

But that gives them a big face that hundreds of millions of dollars Pelosi gave Pakistan so they could figure out the difference between male and female would have more than payed for vaccines for Expats worldwide 

[Mike k]

5 hours ago, Bradmeister said:

Health care? 

 

How is an inoculation for a world pandemic desease labeled as Health Care?  

 

Mrs. Psaki must not remember The Small Pox Disease.   A feared killer from the past which devasted The Planet since Columbus discovered America. The 1950s brought another outbreak in the United States. 

 

Through America's history until the early 70's cowpox was routine to prevent Small Pox.

 

[Possibly the folks at the state department are too young by a decade or so....]

 

 Children in the United States were vaccinated in School auditoriums to ensure mandatory compliance.... not "Health Care", but highly contagious death. 

 

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" 

 

Gee, let me think about that....  Paid Federal Taxes for almost 40 years? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been paying for 47 years and still paying 

[waders123]

On 5/12/2021 at 6:47 AM, VocalNeal said:

Why do Americans think their Embassy is a hospital. 

I don't think any American sees the Embassy as a hospital.  "The primary purpose of an embassy is to assist American citizens who travel to or live in the host country." , this statement was taken from https://diplomacy.state.gov/diplomacy/what-is-a-u-s-embassy/ website.  US citizens in a "host" country should be offered vaccinations for covid-19 in that country to assist them in staying alive.   After all, the US government doesn't stop asking for taxes from citizens while they are traveling or residing in another country so they deserve the same respect, benefits, and vaccines as afforded to citizens living at home.    

[fusion58]

Quote

how does wanting to get vaccinated at one's embassy equate to wanting to be mothered by one's own country?

 

It doesn’t.

 

It’s just that any suggestion that the “gubmint” should do anything to help its citizens is automatically read that way by the “I was born in a log cabin I built with my own two hands” contingent.

[Thai Visa Member 999999]

That's great but that's only because Australia has a population considerably more than 910. If had a population of 911 citizens, you would feel otherwise. You have, implicitly, already admitted that it is per capita that is the more important variable, not numbers of deaths.

 

18 hours ago, Lacessit said:

If it makes you feel more comfortable to base your thinking on that statistic, that's your choice. 579,000 deaths in the USA is still leading the world. I'm from Australia, 910 deaths.

 

[Kleepanna]

It can be done easily first the staff has already been trained they vaccinated themselves. 2 online registration will allow advance proof of citizenship by uploaded valid passport.3 citizens show up by approved transport a car to embassy open parking lot. 4 staff verification of passport against the online registration. Citizens sign waiver understand side affects. Dose given and citizens wait 15 minutes to ensure they feel ok. Done and if the embassy uses the Johnson and Johnson vaccines 1 visit is all that's required.

[Misty]

11 hours ago, impulse said:

If there were a famine in Thailand and the US Embassy brought in food just for Americans, what could possibly go wrong?

 

Same thing with the vaccines...

 

There's a free jab waiting for every US citizen.  You just have to get yourself to the USA to get it.

 

Hmm, if there were a famine in Thailand and the Thai gov't was issuing plans to feed its citizens but telling all others to get to the back of the line, what could possibly go wrong?

 

There, fixed it.

 

Even India was vaccinating older at risk foreigners along with their own citizens...