So, with both laptops and all the necessary data at the ready, on the stroke of 0900, we clicked the link and NOTHING! In fact, for the next two hours the website continuously crashed and threw errors. Then a message appeared indicating that registration was now closed as they had no more stock. Completely baffled and not alone in our disbelief, as the social media forum for the hospital was lit up like a Christmas Tree with messages and complaints of everyone experiencing the same problems, we come to find out that the Thai language version of the application had worked and that many Thai individuals, who’d already been fully vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine, Sinovax, wanted a booster shot of Moderna to increase efficacy against the Delta variant and had purchased the lion’s share of the stock. By the afternoon, this fiasco was all over the news, but it didn’t change a single thing for us; with no access to the government issued vaccines and now unable to purchase a vaccine privately, it was the last straw for Elaine on a long road of feeling totally vulnerable all the time and no end in sight. This outcome, together with seeing how the grandsons have grown in the two and a half years since she was last able to see them and with her aging parents, whom we haven’t seen for the same length of time, had her in tears, having secretly harboured the possibility of, at least, getting back to the US this summer, had we both been able to get fully vaccinated. Not being able to travel during the winter months under ordinary circumstances, never mind with this pandemic, all she now saw was the opportunity slipping away and had us both trying to figure out a contingency plan in the event that we are unable to get vaccinated at all in Thailand before setting sail in January 2022. It’s fair to say that, if Elaine was not immunocompromised and Roy wasn’t in the higher risk category because of his age, we would’ve flown back to the US by now and got vaccinated there.
It didn’t help matters either that the news media were reporting on the arrival of the donated Pfizer vaccines from the US and that these would be used as booster shots too for all the frontline workers who had already been fully vaccinated with the Sinovax vaccine. Our taxpayers dollars and we can’t even buy a US manufactured vaccine here! Grrrr!!! What’s more infuriating, although we definitely don’t begrudge our family and friends being fully vaccinated already against this terrible virus, unlikely countries like the Maldives, the Seychelles, St Maarten and even South Africa, have inoculated stranded tourists and expatriates in their countries and, every other country we can think of, has prioritised the elderly and those with underlying health conditions to receive the vaccines, regardless of their citizenship or status in the country, making the entire fiasco yesterday morning difficult to cope with.
To quell the disappointment and upset, Elaine had a late morning nap, following which we went on a dinghy exploration. It took us a while to find the dinghy dock, but then enjoyed a walk to stretch our legs, finding hidden treasures along the way. Unfortunately the café where we’d hoped to get a coffee was no longer in business, another sad sign of the times here on Phuket Island, but a young entrepreneur saved the day. We can only assume he must have been a barista before loosing his employment, given that he had all the specialty coffees on offer at his roadside coffee and tea stall, where we enjoyed an expertly made tasty coffee and a baked delight, seated at his makeshift table and chairs. This simply encounter, together with a nice long chat to Elaine’s sister in Ireland once we were back onboard, cheered us up tremendously and helped put everything back in perspective! It made us realise that we’re not alone in our longing to be with loved ones, that there are people, including family members, far worse off than ourselves as a result of this pandemic, having lost their livelihoods and there are people who have suffered greatly, including friends, in either recovering from COVID-19 or having lost loved ones to the disease, but as Elaine’s sister rightly pointed out: “we all have a story relating to this pandemic and this is ours!”
Today, after a good night’s sleep, we were up early to continue our sail northwards back to our “base”, the anchorage off Ao Po Grand marina, where arrangements have been made with our agent to handover our passports again for our visa renewal and to run a few errands. It ended up being a relatively quiet day onboard, though, with the forecast rain bucketing down at times, but it was the perfect opportunity to collect more water for laundry day, as well as to get some baking done again.
