Vaccination overload

Researching the plentiful and deadly diseases we may encounter during our round the world trip, I went to the International Travel Clinic in Calgary.

The appointment took nearly two months to book and the paperwork said there would be a charge for the services, plus some fees for the vaccinations.

So it turns out we need seven vaccinations for the trip. Many of the vaccinations need several doses (three or four) over a period of a few weeks.

After spending an hour with the nurse, going over how nasty these diseases are, we got to the vaccination part. This is where the big surprise came in.

I expected the fees to be pretty reasonable. She started with a flu vaccine. $30. No problem.

Then Japanese ensephalitus (I'm not even trying to spell that correctly). $80. No problem.

Then they started getting a little bit crazy.

"Ok, this vaccine is $145 per dose and you need three doses", the nurse said.

Gulp!

"And this one is $110 per dose and you need four of them", she continued.

Gulp!

So I left the travel clinic with five injections and a bill for $500. Talk about a double pain!

All in the vaccinations will put me back about $1200. A far cry from the $150 or so I was expecting to pay for my needle visit.

urgh.

More to come...