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Traveling to a new country is an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. One of the things that need to be on your to-do list before you leave for the trip is getting any necessary travel vaccinations. Travel vaccinations help protect you against diseases and illnesses that spread around other areas of the world. Since you’ve likely never encountered those illnesses before, your body has no immunity to them. Without a vaccine, your fun trip can quickly turn into an unwanted trip to the hospital!
AFC Urgent Care Short Hills provides travel vaccinations to the patients who need them. We recommend getting vaccinated at least four weeks before your trip to allow antibodies to be formed. Be sure to call ahead to ensure the availability of vaccines and allow our providers to recommend the best ones depending on your destination.
Common Travel Vaccines
The travel vaccines you need will vary depending on your health history and the location you’re traveling to. Some of the most common vaccines recommended for international travel include:
- Typhoid
- Cholera
- Hepatitis A and B
- Yellow Fever
- Anthrax
- Polio
- Rabies
Locations That Commonly Require Travel Vaccines
Southeast Asia, Africa, some locations in the Caribbean, and many other spots around the world require travel vaccines. The recommended vaccines for the location will depend on your itinerary and recent conditions in that area. For instance, if a measles outbreak has happened recently, it may be recommended to get a measles vaccine before your trip, even if that isn’t typically required to travel to the country at hand. You can see a list of recommended travel vaccines by location.
COVID-19
The COVID-19 vaccine has quickly made its way to the top of the list of travel vaccines. Multiple versions of the vaccine are now widely available in the US. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine before your trip not only limits your risk of contracting the virus it also limits your risk of spreading the virus. That means you won’t have to worry about bringing the virus to a country with otherwise low case numbers or bringing it home with you from a country with higher case numbers. The COVID-19 vaccine is a requirement to enter some countries, and that requirement will likely spread to other countries in the near future.
Once you know what vaccines you need for your trip, you should contact AFC Urgent Care Stoneham to learn more about receiving the vaccines. Some vaccines are harder to acquire than others, so it’s best to start the planning process well in advance of your trip. This will give you plenty of time to get vaccinated and allow the vaccines to reach their full working potential before you’re exposed to any harmful illnesses across the globe.
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