Some people are asking if the vaccine against pneumonia will give any protection against the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19 disease. The short answer to that is: no, unfortunately it won’t. At the moment, there is no vaccine available to protect against Covid-19.
The pneumonia vaccine has been available for many years and is in fact two vaccines that work against a sub-group of streptococcal bacteria, called pneumococcus. These bacteria cause pneumonia and other severe illnesses, especially in children and people with weakened immune systems.
The two vaccines are called PCV (Prevnar-13) and PPSV (PPV, Pneumovax-23). In several countries around the world, PCV vaccine has been part of the routine childhood vaccine program for over 10 years already and is usually given to children under the age of 2 years.
For a long time PPSV vaccine was only given to people with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk of infection. More recently it has been recommended for all adults of 60 years and above
In most adults these vaccines are given just one time, because the composition of the vaccine always remains the same, unlike the influenza vaccine which changes every year and so must be taken again every year.
The Pneumovax-23 is available to members at 1300 Baht (1500 Baht for non-members). Influenza vaccine is available at the end of March, priced at 600 Baht for members (750 Baht for non-members).
If you are interested in receiving the pneumonia vaccine and/or the influenza vaccine, please contact the clinic.
