Before Griffin and I left for Korea, we knew we wanted to do a lot of travel when our contract was up. So, I went down to a local travel clinic and got some vaccinations. Smart, right? As it turns out, not so much.
I got 3 vaccines: Typhoid, Yellow Fever and a Tetnus Booster. Total price, more than $400. That pricetag hurt more than any of the shots!
When we got to Korea, we priced some vaccines and found them about half the price of the same ones in the U.S.
Better still, we waited until we got to the Kingdom of Low Prices – India. While waiting for our flight out of Delhi, we stopped by a clinic and priced vaccines again… and found a winner. I got 7 vaccines, (Lifetime Hep. A, Hep B, Meningitis, Rabies, Typhoid, Polio and TB) all for a total of $115. Griffin had several shots as well and we both drank lots of fluids and rested for a few days.
We had to get second and third doses of Hep. B and Rabies, for which we had to do some searching in other parts of the world. We found Hep. B for $15 in Indonesia (As long as you’re away from the touristy areas in or around Bali) and the 3rd dose of Hep B. in Spain for 5 Euros.
Unfortunately, we never priced a 2nd dose of Rabies for less than $100, which didn’t seem worth it after the $7 initial dose, so we just called that one off.
The bottom line is, if your home country is over-pricing their travel vaccines, a little research could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If you don’t get your travel vaccines at home, it’s more than okay to leave home without them, as long as your DO get them.
