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The split travellers miss: several travel vaccines are FREE on the NHS at your GP practice because they protect public health on your return: typhoid, hepatitis A, cholera and combined tetanus/diphtheria/polio boosters: while others are always private: rabies (GBP ~60-80 x3 doses), Japanese encephalitis (~GBP 100 x2), yellow fever (certificate centres only, ~GBP 70-85). Book the GP nurse FIRST: get the free ones there: pay a travel clinic only for what's left. Start 6-8 weeks out: rabies + JE courses need weeks: last-minute isn't fully protected.
What The Travel Vaccinations Calculator Works Out
- Estimated cost: a per-person private vaccine budget by trip type (GBP 0 for Europe and North America, about GBP 60 for the Southeast Asia and South America tourist trail, GBP 130 for rural or long-stay travel, GBP 220 plus for rabies-risk work and yellow fever zones) plus antimalarials, multiplied by travellers.
- Free vs paid split: hepatitis A, typhoid, cholera and the tetanus/diphtheria/polio booster are free at your GP because they protect public health on your return. Rabies, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever, hepatitis B for most travel reasons and meningitis ACWY are private. Book the GP nurse first and pay a clinic only for what is left.
- Timing + planning: start six to eight weeks out. Rabies pre-exposure is three doses over three to four weeks, JE is two doses 28 days apart, and the yellow fever certificate travels with your passport.
- Malaria tablets: prescription-priced by region and trip length, roughly GBP 35 for a fortnight and GBP 70 for a month or more. Finish the course after you are home; the abandoned half-course is the classic failure.
- Itemised private courses (advanced): enter how many travellers need each course and the estimate is replaced by real prices: rabies at about GBP 65 x 3 doses, Japanese encephalitis GBP 100 x 2, yellow fever GBP 75 at a certificate centre, hepatitis B GBP 50 x 3. Clinic prices vary enough that phoning two beats loyalty.
- Consultation fee (advanced): some private clinics charge GBP 20 to GBP 40 per person for the appointment, though pharmacy chains often waive it when you buy a vaccine. GP nurse appointments are free.
- Antimalarial override (advanced): replace the dropdown estimate with the quoted price for your specific tablets, since atovaquone-proguanil costs several times more than doxycycline for the same trip.
- Saved by using the GP for the free ones (advanced): the number of free NHS jabs per person multiplied by the GBP 45 or so a private clinic would charge for each, which is the money the GP-first order puts back in your pocket.
- Weeks needed before departure (advanced): the longest course you have selected plus time for immunity to build: about eight weeks for hepatitis B, six for JE, five for rabies and two for the single-dose jabs. Accelerated schedules exist for the late booker, and partial protection beats none.