BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm curious what others are paying for their shots.

I live in a remote area in Northern California, and the only common vaccine available here is hep-B, and only because it is now required before kids can attend school. Therefore, I must travel to the next county for my shots. They are not covered by my insurance since I'm over 18?!?.

7 years ago, I paid $70+ for each of 3 hep-B's, and 2 hep-A's. (luckily they are good for at least 20 years)
Yesterday, I paid $65 for Yellow Fever, $78 for Meningitis, $12 for Tetinus, and $43 for oral Typhoid, along with the mandatory "nurse consultation" charge of $14, for a total of $212.00.

How much are you paying for *your* shots?

Just called the clinic for an appointment...
- Hep B - $64 per shot (x3)...getting the first series on Thursday
- Polio - $38
- Office visit - $20

However, I was lucky that the following were completely covered by insurance in the recent past! yeah!
- Hep A's
- Yellow Fever (don't know how I got that one covered!)
- Tetanus
- Typhoid

I work at a doctors office. I'm getting myself some sneaky deals.... I'll say no more.

If you don't know, it is possible to get one vaccination called Twinrix that is both Hep A and B. It may save you a little in cost.

Polio?

Polio because I don't know if I've ever had that vaccination, and there's a some polio risk (albeit small) in East Africa. But heck, I figure I'll be all over the world over the years..the shots should last a while...

these shots are killin' me. well not REALLY killing me, but they're so expensive! does anyone know about getting shots overseas, in say, singapore? i'll be there for two months before i embark on a 3+ month tour around SE Asia. if they're much cheaper there, i'll hold off. i already started on my hep courses, so it may work out with timing?

wait isn't polio oen of the vaccines you're supposed to get when you're a kid?

yes, xoom, but since I wasn't born in the states, I have no idea if I ever got them. have no record of my childhood immunizations!

Here's what I paid:

Hep A & B (3 shots) $175
Yellow Fever $85
Typhoid $55
TD Booster $30
Meningitis $100

Got these at the county health clinic in Florida, no fee for the office visit.

quote:

Originally posted by Marisa:
yes, xoom, but since I wasn't born in the states, I have no idea if I ever got them. have no record of my childhood immunizations!

i hope you're up to date with everything!!

SurfinDan (and everyone else too),

how did you find a free health clinic? I would like to find one to get my jabs because I only have emergency medical coverage (so the office visit really sets me back).

Thanks!

In Seattle, both the County health clinics and the University of Washington (student health unit has a travel specialty group) do vaccinations. I think the County will do them on a sliding scale according to income.

But, if you're going to be in a pretty modern/healthy city for a while before travelling on you should look into getting some or part of your vaccinations through the Red Cross there. (you may need to get some shots before even entering some countries)

I got the rabies series from the Bangkok Red Cross. And since they actually produce it there (and ship to the rest of the world) it didn't seem too bad. I made sure that they used new needles and kept an eye on facilities/procedures (watching ER for years has made me an expert on medical procedures... I'm not a doctor, but I've seen one on TV).

So, instead of paying $300+ for the series of three, I paid less that $30. Of course, I did have to return to BKK on a regular schedule (7, 14, 21 days) which did put a strain on my carefree vagabond travels.

Tamiko,
This could be a very stupid quesion...but was your rabies series after you had been bitten or was it some kind of preventitive thing?

I did a small amount of volunteering with stray dogs in India, and if I go back to do it again as I'd like to, I would def. think about getting the preventitive one, which I have heard people speak about. I could try to find the Red Cross in India, but if I know it's available in Bangkok, that would be a good excuse to spend some time there too.
Thanks

To reply to a message above -- even if you were vaccinated against polio as a child, adults are supposed to get a booster shot (how often, I can't remember...) as well.

The biggest expense I've had so far has been the series of 3 Japanese Encephalitis at $140 each, for which I get little more than a year of immunity (which is dubious at best), and each shot made me progressively sicker until the final one knocked me out for 2 days. Not to mention having to carry around Benadryl and an EpiPen in case of anaphylaxis. Avoid getting this vaccination unless it's absolutely necessary...that being said, it's a lot better than getting encephalitis.

Hep A and B costs 48 euro. And you need to get 3. If you buy it, it comes with a needle. So you can do it yourself, I saved some money by letting a friend do it who's trianed in this kind of nurse things.

Katelr57: Don't worry it isn't a stupid question. Thankfully - it was preventative. Yesterday I had an update consultation with the travel nurse (for an upcoming trip to India) she said that the rabies series is now running at $600 USD! That is double what we would had to pay three years ago. Considering that US suppliers get it from the BKK Red Cross ... they're bastards!

The great thing is that if I am exposed now, I have 7 days to get the two shots (in the arm - no stomach shots for me!). I never need boosters, unless I've had a possible exposure.

The nurse also recommended against me getting a booster shot for JE (needed after 2.5yrs). She said that unless I'll be spending a fair amount of time in a rural area I shouldn't risk it.

I didn't have as severe a reaction to the series as Miranda2264, but it was still pretty bad. I could barely lift my arm and felt like shit (felt sicker after each one, too). But, I agree, better than getting encephalitis!