When Maria Dee Received Her Vaccines During Our Travels

“How is little Maria Dee?” or “is she developing
well?” it’s probably the questions we have to answer more frequently.

Since I got the
confirmation from my work that I don’t need to go back to Macau this year, we
had to plan about the doctor consultations and vaccination programs of Maria
Dee. We are in American territories, where health insurance is essential even if
we got sailing insurance but it doesn’t cover vaccinations. I agree with the
American health system because it pushes all citizens to work. The more you
work the better quality of life you will have, which is a good thing. But what
if you don’t have it?

I must admit that the
health system in Macau, which local people complain a lot about the capacity
and quality, is still one of the best things the Macau government gives to the benefit
of its citizens. The hospitalization in Macau is completely free for kids until
13 years old, civil servant and family, teachers, pregnant woman for example
and much more cases that I don’t mention. They even offer discounted prices for
permanent and non-permanent residents of Macau. What is free in Macau we have
to pay outside!

I posted the question
on USVI cruisers page on facebook asking suggestions for places where we could
get the vaccinations for Maria Dee. I still wondered on some suggestion about
what they mention about reasonable price for the clinics here. We went to check
one, just right after our dinghy dock in Charlotte Amalie, and got the
surprised that getting the vaccines is only by appointment. The vaccines cost
15 USD for the first shot and the following is 10 USD each excluding the
consultation for 170 USD! The receptionist is kind to advise us that if we
don’t have health insurance we could go to the public hospital which is nearby
then we don’t need to pay for the consultation cost like we have to pay in
their clinic.

“The vaccination is
only available in September”. That’s
what the nurse in the hospital told us! Though, she was nice and gave us the
contact of the vaccines providers in US Virgin Islands. We called some of them
but most don’t have the vaccines that 18 months old Maria Dee need. They were
IPV (inactivated poliovirus vaccine), DTPa (Diphtheria, tetanus & acellular
pertussis vaccine) and MMR (Measles, mumps & rubella vaccine). Finally, we got
thru Dr. Hea Young Pak, an elderly Korean pediatrician who was born and raised
in Korea but educated in USA and then moved to St. Thomas in 1965. We felt
Asian nostalgia as we came from Asia and Korea is one of the countries we
visited some years ago. Maria Dee was so brave, even the doctor said. She only
cried when she feel the needles into her sensitive skin. That’s it! And the fun
starts since the doctor’s room has cartoons, animals and many dolls
decorations. Another thing the doctor was surprised was that Maria Dee got so
many teeth! At 18 months she already got 16, each upper and lower got 8 teeth!
The doctor said for the full set of milk teeth will be 20 which Maria Dee is
soon to reach. The total price we paid for Dr. Pak was 120 USD including all
vaccinations and consultation.

Now until Maria Dee
turns 5 years old we don’t need to worry about vaccinations. But we keep
tracking her weight and height every month. For our friends and family not to
be worried and to be sure that she is growing well and being healthy in the
pure environment with 24 hours with her parents and her pet dog.