I haven’t had to get travel vaccinations in years. Most of the time I’ve been in Europe or the United States or Australia – countries which don’t really require anything special.
My upcoming trip is going to see me visiting countries in Africa for the first time. While there is little risk of me getting anything as I won’t be heading off the beaten track, it’s best to be safe rather than sorry.
The Great Travel Vaccinations Upsell
Recently, I booked myself an appointment at a travel vaccination place, planning to get a Yellow Fever shot. There was a consultation fee, and I figured that was just to make sure I was healthy enough to get the jab.
A Shot For Everything
He launched into looking at the countries I was visiting, along with all the various things I could catch while there. I said I was there for a Yellow Fever vaccination, that I’d had my Hep A and Hep B vaccinations in the past, but then he launched into the upsell. His screen showed the risks of anything and everything, whipping through images and countries, showing me the meningitis belt and all sorts.
Overall Thoughts
The man was a born salesman, and I walked out with more travel vaccinations than I planned. It was only an extra €35 over what I had planned to spend, but I was near breathless with the sheer pressure to get more. If I was the nervous type, I probably would have left having had quite a few more shots than two.
I’m not one to be particularly concerned about every single possible thing I could catch. My main reason for the Yellow Fever was in case some other country along the way didn’t let me in for not having been vaccinated. Regardless, I’m all good to go!
Have you had your travel vaccinations? Did you find it was a similar experience to mine or was your experience rather more chill? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Hyttalo Souza on Unsplash.
Maps via the CDC.
After working as a physician at a major east coast university student health office with grad students traveling all over the globe, but mostly in 3rd world, I can tell you there was probably not much of an upsell. I have seen countless students come back with malaria, Hepatitis A, dengue, parasites, typhoid, etc. The CDC has a excellent site for country specific vaccines and malaria prophylaxis and medication from traveler’s diarrhea. Remember you are not always in a place with good medical care, and sorry Vitamin A and probiotics don’t cut it in Africa.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list
Oh, I am a huge proponent for being vaccinated, but in my case it’s the very short duration that I will be there that made me hesitate on getting the entire suite that was being offered to me. Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s appreciated. I think anyone who avoids vaccinations is taking a risk that is not recommended.
If he had a blog, he could write about how stupid people are.
Tetanus and malaria would have been good but you not selecting rabies was a reasonable decision. Updated covid vaccine would also be good, if they had it.
Well, considering I’m only 16 hours in transit in Addis Ababa each way, I weighed up the risk and decided not to go for those. If I were planning to spend any length of time there, I would perhaps have gone for more. The Yellow Fever was more so when I get to other countries, that I would not be denied entry as I’d been in Addis beforehand.