Vaccinations for Traveling
Vaccinations for Traveling
Having never needed to worry about getting vaccinations for traveling before. It struck me on a flight to New Orleans that Egypt was, indeed, in Africa.
Early last November, I booked a couple of low-cost fares from Boston to Cairo and Washington DC to Kenya [upcoming]. However, I didn’t adequately think about the proper time I needed to be vaccinated against various diseases and illnesses.
Typically for trips to Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, it is recommended that you have Typhoid and Hepatitis A at a minimum. The Traveler’s Health section of the CDC website is actually very useful.
In order to make sure that you are properly vaccinated, be sure to check what vaccinations are recommended. Then with a quick search on CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid’s websites, you should be able to find a local place to get vaccinated. Just search for the nearest pharmacy to you & make sure they have the vaccines you need.
From my experience getting the Typhoid and Hep A vaccine, walk-ins are allowed during pharmacy hours and is relatively painless. However, call ahead in order to make sure that they actually have the vaccine at your preferred location. If they don’t, they’ll direct you to the nearest location.
Once you arrive, be sure to ask if the pharmacy has any discount cards from the vaccine’s parent company to save you a few bucks (I think my discount was close to $35). I did not know this was possible until an awesome Pharmacist at CVS let me know about the discount.
In my opinion, if you want to spend a lot of money, you can get vaccinated at a passport health specialization facility. Just keep in mind they’ll just give you the same vaccine that your local pharmacy would give you.
When planning what vaccines you need to get, be sure to check how often and far apart you need to get the proper doses. Little did I know going into getting vaccinated that getting a Hepatitis A vaccine is two doses. Spread six months apart. Vaccinations for traveling will save you a lot of headache in-case something does happen on your trip. Plus, I believe that most of these vaccines are for life, so, you’ll be covered for any future trips.
Have any other tips for getting vaccinated prior to a trip? Leave a comment below and we’ll add it to this post.
