Travel vaccination works best when it is sorted out weeks before you fly. At Your Community Pharmacy in Newport, a pharmacist immuniser asks where you are going and what you plan to do, checks your medical history, then explains which vaccines a country requires for entry and which are simply recommended. Many can be given on the spot. As with our other walk-in vaccinations, there is no appointment and no booking fee.
Healthdirect's guide to travel vaccinations suggests allowing at least 6 weeks before you leave, and preferably 12, because some courses need more than one dose.
What a travel vaccination visit covers
- Your itinerary: countries, length of stay, and activities such as trekking or contact with animals.
- Your history: earlier vaccines, current medicines, allergies, pregnancy and immune health.
- A plan separating required vaccines from optional ones, with the timing of each dose.
- The vaccines you choose, given in the private consultation area and recorded.
- Advice on food, water and insect bites.
Bring photo ID, your Medicare card if you have one and any vaccination record. Our blog post on pharmacist travel vaccines has more background.
Vaccines matched to your destination
Check your destination on Smartraveller first. In store we give:
- hepatitis A and B, caught through contaminated food and water (A) or blood and body fluids (B)
- rabies pre-exposure doses, where contact with dogs, monkeys or bats is possible
- Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne virus in parts of Asia and Papua New Guinea
- routine vaccines such as the flu vaccine, COVID-19 and whooping cough (dTpa)
Typhoid and polio before you travel
Typhoid fever, caught from contaminated food and water, is common in parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. Polio has been gone from Australia since 2000 but still circulates in some countries, and the Australian Immunisation Handbook recommends a booster every 10 years for people travelling to them. Under the NSW Health eligibility table we can give both: the typhoid injection from age 5, oral typhoid capsules from age 6 and polio from age 5. Our typhoid and polio vaccine page explains the doses, repeat timing and who pays.
Travel vaccinations in Newport NSW: cost and repellent
Most travel vaccines are a private cost, though a few are funded for eligible people, so ask the pharmacist about cost and eligibility or call (02) 9999 1186. A country that requires yellow fever vaccination means a trip to an approved clinic; our yellow fever vaccine page explains how to find one. Regular medicines can be dispensed before you leave, with free local delivery if we deliver to your address, and pack your essential medicines and a basic first aid kit for the trip. If you have seen repellent cheaper, show us the lower price and ask the team about a price match. See all our health services.
Common questions
Do I need a prescription for a travel vaccine?
Not for the vaccines a pharmacist is authorised to give. NSW law allows trained pharmacists to give selected vaccines without a prescription, including typhoid, polio, hepatitis A and B, rabies (pre-exposure) and Japanese encephalitis.
I leave in under two weeks. Is it too late?
Come in anyway. Some vaccines work after one dose and some courses have faster schedules, so the pharmacist can tell you what is still possible.
Can children have travel vaccines at the pharmacy?
In NSW most of these vaccines can be given from age 5, and oral typhoid capsules from age 6. Younger children should see a GP.
Do I still need to be careful with food and insects once vaccinated?
Yes. Paratyphoid fever, for one, has no vaccine. Use repellent, choose freshly cooked food and bottled or purified water, and wash your hands often.