My Experience Looking For Travel Vaccines In the States
Before moving overseas, I figured living in a city as large as Philadelphia would be a huge benefit when looking for travel vaccine options. Unfortunately, I ended up having only 2 real choices and their prices ended up being pretty similar (on the high end of the prices listed above).
Because I already had all of my routine vaccines as well as a few other vaccines from previous travels, I only needed Typhoid and a Tdap booster. It was also recommended that I get the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine because I planned on spending time in rural areas, doing things like sleeping on a rice farm in the mountains, where the disease could be spread by mosquitoes.
Fortunately, the Tdap booster was completely covered by my insurance at the time. The Typhoid and Japanese Encephalitis vaccine were not. The Typhoid vaccine cost me $100 for the oral version. The Japanese Encephalitis vaccine was a different story, though. The best price I could find in Philadelphia was $350 per dose and it required 2 doses. So after a consultation, 2 shot administration fees, and 2 injections, I was looking at a bill for well over $700.
The doctor at the travel clinic understood my not wanting to pay that much for a vaccine that the CDC only recommends for “some travelers” and told me I could skip it if I’d like. For better or for worse, I did exactly that and decided not to get the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.
I have to say that after speaking to a doctor here in Chiang Mai, I learned that the vaccine is highly recommended here in northern Thailand and that its given to Thai children as young as one years old as a part of their routine vaccines.