TEST YOURSELF: Thais abroad share Covid stories

Photo by Reuters
Photo by Reuters

How England, Russia and Australia are managing the pandemic

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Read the following story by Poramet Tangsathaporn from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.


The Thai government should learn a few things from overseas countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, Thais living abroad say.

ENGLAND
Thammarit Khamplod, 31, a PhD student in Manchester, received his two doses of Pfizer recently, delivered free by the British government.

"As everyone is registered with the National Health Service, or NHS, everyone will have an NHS number, including migrants who entered the UK legally.

"So, there is no need to register for a vaccination. You will get a notification via SMS and there will be a link to book a time and date," Mr Thammarit said.

The UK vaccine scheme was arranged according to age and risk factors: those 40 years old and above, frontline workers and vulnerable groups would be the first to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. Those 40 years old or under would get Pfizer or Moderna.

"Unlike Thailand, which has way too many mobile applications, we have only the "NHS Covid-19" app to update everything like tracing our contacts, QR code check-ins, and updates on control measures", Mr Thammarit said.

His university has an NHS joint Covid–19 testing centre, so he had the chance to get tested twice a week for free.

RUSSIA
Pongpon Chuencharoen, 30, a graduate from St Petersburg University in Russia, shared his experience on getting his first dose of the Russian-made vaccine Sputnik V.

"Everyone in Russia, regardless of nationality, can get a vaccine for free," he said.

A central Russian government website posts updates on the Covid–19 situation, including bookings for vaccines.

Currently, there was no vaccine support for tourists, but the government was working on this.

AUSTRALIA
Phanu Laosamran, 27, who works at a Thai restaurant in Sydney, has lived in Australia for eight years and is now an Australian citizen. He got his second dose of Pfizer on Friday. He said his vaccine was free.

"In Australia, the government provides the vaccines to everyone, no matter what visa type. People are, however, complaining that vaccine distribution is slow," he said.

On vaccination day, he was impressed with how medical staff looked after people.

"They asked patients for consent on the vaccine [brand] they were going to inject."

If people caught the virus, treatment was free, if a patient has a Medicare card. He was impressed with the government's approach.

"The measures here are based on common sense. I hope Thailand can prioritise the needs of Thai people over anything else because they are taxpayers," he said.


Section 1: Write the name of the correct country or countries in the space provided.
1. Which country or countries gives the vaccine for free? …………….
2. Which country doesn’t give tourists vaccines? …………….
3. Where is vaccine distribution slow, according to some people? …………….
4. Where do you not need to register for a vaccine appointment? …………….
5. Where do different age groups get different vaccine brands?…………..
6. Where can you get free tests? …………….

Section 2: Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
The university also …7… us with a test kit for free. For other people, you can get test kits for free by …8… for them and the government will …9… you a kit to your front door. People can also test themselves with an RT–PCR test at home and send it back …10… post.

7. __A. providing             __B. provides                __C. provide
8. __A. registering             __B. register              __C. registration
9. __A. give                __B. send               __C. have
10. __A. with            __B. via                    __C. on

       
Section 3: Find words that match the following definitions.
11. people who travel to a different country in order to find work ……………
12. weak and without protection ……………
13. saying the something is wrong or not good enough ……………
14. to decide which things are most important and deal with them first …………

Answers: 1. England, Russia, Australia. 2. Russia. 3. Australia. 4. England. 5. England. 6. England. 7. b. 8. a. 9. b. 10. b. 11. migrants. 12. vulnerable. 13. complaining. 14. prioritise.

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