After we decided to take the travel plunge, I immediately made an appointment with the travel clinic at my hospital. I was able to get most of my travel vaccinations taken care of before my insurance ran out. Make sure you check with your insurance provider to see if any of your shots or prescriptions are covered. Even if they tell you no, you should try anyway. I busted out my insurance card at the clinic and still got significant discounts, especially on the prescriptions.
Based on the countries we are visiting, we’ll need the following shots:
- Typhoid pills – $70, good for 5 years
- Yellow Fever – $112, good for 10 years
- Polio – $39
- Hepatitis A & B (combo shot, Twinrix) – $118 per shot, 2 shots taken 6 months apart
- Tetanus/Diphtheria/Pertussis – $64
I also got prescriptions for malaria (Malarone, $6-8 per pill) and diarrhea (Cipro, $5 per pill). The doctor also tried to sell me on altitude sickness (Diamox) and SE Asia diarrhea pills (Azithromycin) but I decided against it. Without insurance, the cost would be around $450 total for the shots and pills. That’s a whole lotta cheddar.
I love how there are diarrhea pills and SE Asia diarrhea pills. I’m expecting pictures with analysis once you hit that region…
hahahaha, a pill for SE Asia diarrhea??! I think that’s just a bit too much. you definitely don’t need it … I mean.. you might suffer diarrhea for couple days, but once you get over it, you will be fine…
even for a fob like me just suffered it for couple days, it was all good after that 🙂