Let's talk vaccines! We aren't doctors so they would be your best bet for advice regarding your individual circumstances but keeping yourselves healthy while traveling is better than trying to treat an illness once it occurs. Today, Erich and I went for our yellow fever vaccines.
Yellow Fever is a disease that mostly occurs in South America and Africa but since it is so uncommon in the US, the vaccine is very expensive. Our doctors quoted us $400 each for the vaccine that we weren't even sure we would need. The vaccine is a one time shot that lasts a lifetime and some countries require it to enter and others require it if you are coming from someplace that has the disease. You must get the vaccine at least 10 days before travel. We have been keeping our eye out for opportunities to get the vaccine in other countries and failed three times - 4th time was the charm!
We are in Seoul, South Korea and there are several places to get the vaccine here but we chose the National Medical Center which was just ten minutes up the road by bus or subway. This hospital was modern and clean and had a variety of people who spoke some level of English. Since this was a straightforward ask, Google translate smoothed over any issues we might have had.
The process started several days ago when we went in to make an appointment. The preferred method is to call and make the appointment but we don't have a local phone number and it would have been hard to answer questions over the phone. We went to the desk that handles the yellow vaccine with our passports. Several minutes later and we were out the door with a plan and forms to fill out.
Our appointment this morning was at 10:45 but we arrived around 9:30. First stop was the bank which is on the first floor of the hospital. There we turned over about $50 in Korean Won and they gave us what amounts to a cashier's check (they called it a revenue stamp). Then we took that, our passports, and our paperwork back to the yellow fever desk and got a number. Very soon, we were called up. After determining that our paperwork was in order, he kept our passports and we were sent to the second floor where we checked in again with the nurse. There we filled out standard wellness questionnaires and then got in to see the doctor. The doctor spoke strong English and went through a variety of questions to ensure that this would be safe for us to take. Once she signed our paperwork, we went back out to the cashier and payed an additional $13 each for the services of the doctor and technician.
The shot was easy and pretty painless and we waited around for 20-30 minutes as requested to make sure that we had no surprising side effects. We went back to the original check-in desk to pick up our passports and our yellow vaccine card. $76 total (for the two of us) and a couple hours of our time was well worth it to ensure that we don't get Yellow Fever and that this disease doesn't have to factor into our plans.
Choosing vaccines is a personal decision but for us, the science is clear and we have seen people who are living their lives post-preventable-diseases like polio. We do recommend that people get all of the standard vaccines but also Hepatitis A, B, and C well before heading out into the less-developed countries especially. Some of them require multiple shots 6 months or a year apart so plan ahead.
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