For those of you who are about to venture forth into the wilderness, you’ll know that vaccinations are a must for certain destinations. Japanese Encephalitis for Southeast Asia, Yellow Fever for Africa, Tetanus for anywhere with rusty nails… What you’ll also discover that in most cases, these shots are incredibly expensive. People who are going overseas don’t have a lot of money lying around, and immunisations can eat up a big chunk of cash that could be put towards traveling. Luckily enough for Jo and I, we were going to Kuala Lumpur.
As you know, Jo and I aren’t fond of the pricing of most products and services in Australia. So when we found out how much vaccinations were going to cost us, we decided to source out other options. Jo managed to find a well known medical centre in the Petronas Towers that provided the same injections that we required for a fraction of the price. For instance, the Japanese Encephalitis vaccination costs around $280 in Australia. It costs $30 in the Twin Towers Medical Centre. I got vaccinations for Japanese Encephalitis, Typhoid, Tetanus, and Jo got her JE shot as well. All up, including the consultation fee, we paid $130 for 4 immunizations. In addition to this, we walked into the Medical Centre without an appointment and were seen by a doctor within 5 minutes. This is the exact opposite of Australia where booking an appointment will often result in you sitting in the waiting room for 45 minutes because the doctor is running behind schedule. TTMC was clean, well organized, the doctor was friendly and above all else, they’re very very affordable. It was by far the best experience I’ve had at the doctors.
When I had my Hep A vaccination in Australia, the doctor continually tried to convince me to get Japanese Encephalitis, Typhoid, and Tetanus at the same time. I mentioned that I was getting them done in Kuala Lumpur, to which he replied that there was a world wide shortage in some of the vaccinations and that they probably wouldn’t have them (Jo had already confirmed that they were well stocked with all the shots we required). Do yourself a favour, if the vaccinations you need are in stock, and if they will provide you with immunity for the time you are traveling, look at getting them cheaper at your destination. It’ll save you a bunch of money which you can put to better use when you’re trotting around the globe!
Did you get your vaccinations cheaper overseas? If so, where did you go? Do you have any other trips when it comes to vaccinations? Feel free to leave a comment or shoot us a quick email at Dirtypawsblog@gmail.com
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Where in Kuala Lumpur did you go to get your vaccines? Also, don’t you need a follow up shot for Japanese Encephalitis a month later?
I got them at the Twin Towers medical centre in KL.They have a new JE vaccine that doesn’t require a second shot 🙂
But the vaccine will take a period to come to effect. Doctor can advice how many months you will need to take vaccine before your travel.
I always just risk it a little 🙂
Thanks for the info. Getting vaccinations here in New Zealand is pricey as well, especially for foreigners who need to pay extra just to see the doctors.)
We just went to the twin towers medical clinic and they wanted to charge us 565 MYR ($183 AUD) for a single rabies shot. It cost us about $25 AUD in Thailand so we were shocked! Will be calling around other places in KL tomorrow…
Thanks Edgar, you answered my question without me having to ask it!