Hoping to make people aware that yellow fever vaccines are currently in short supply in the U.S. (This is according to Northwestern Hospital's travel clinic in Chicago.) Fortunately, we are able to secure before we leave on safari in January, but certainly want to pass this information on...

Hi,

We just got our yellow fever shots this morning. Our Dr ordered the vaccine Monday and had it on Thursday. There was no problem for us.

Boy, no kidding. I just called and my County Health Department is completely out. I can't call them again until January 11th to see if I could get a shot and I leave January 23rd. I'm now struggling to see what I can do.

Where are you going that you absolutely must have YF inoculation?

Rwanda - and thankfully I've found one.

Rwanda, yes absolutely.
Glad you found a resource.

If not the public health dept, you can always check with a teaching hospital. Most have a travel clinic affilited with them. Prices tend to be less than a private travel clinic, though higher than public health.

I wanted to bump this up, as I am also having a problem finding the YF vaccine.

cjstobbs--Where did you end up getting it? A private doctor? Clinic?

I got mine through Von's pharmacy. The CDC has a list of places. There are tons of travel doctors. Call your local health department and they should be able to refer you to places/doctors close by that will have it available.

We did finally find it and got them...all three major health departments in my area (Long Beach, Los Angeles County, and Orange County) were all out and had no idea when they would get more. We found a few places that did have it, and some were charging a HUGE premium (3x the normal charge). The places I did find only had a few doses left or were only doing vacs for YF on limited days to conserve the vaccine they did have. The first place I called had 3 doses at 10:30am, but by the time I called back at 2pm, they only had 1 left.

If you must get a YF vaccination, I'd take care of it asap, if nothing for peace of mind.

I was certainly lucky with Von's Pharmacy. It was actually cheaper than what the health department charged. They had me fill out a questionnaire on line and also provided me with anti-malaria, an antiobiotic for travellers diarrhea and Tamiflu (in case I came in contact with Avian flu). All without seeing a doctor. They also provided a booklet with health/safety information on the countries to which I would be traveling.

Where are you located? I thought all anti-malarial pills and antibiotics required a doctor's prescription. Maybe that's just in the US.

cjstobb -

You got your YF inoculation at Von's? Or did you get your antimalarial tabs or other meds at Von's?

If the meds, then Von's makes sense as would most pharmacies. But, if the YF, I understand that this inoculation can only be provided by authorized clinics whether public/govt, hospital or private travel clinics; there are some private physicians who are approved to provide this inoculation. Whomever provides YF, has to give the patient the official YF certificate.

Private physicians, travel or hospital clinics and public health departments can also provide HepA&B, Tetanus, Polio, other inoculations.

For malaria and typhoid pills, these need a script from a physician to be filled from whomever has the best prices.

I don't know about other states, but in CA, some Von's and Safeway pharmacy locations are authorized to give YF. See the CDC list here http://www2.ncid.cdc.gov/travel/yellowfever/

Patty -

Interesting... seems as if only in California, kiddies! Some of your neighborhood Von's or Safeways are "full-service"

The Von's Pharmacy had me fill out a questionnaire that was reviewed by a doctor and then they recommended medications. I was surprised that they filled the medications at the time I went in for the YF vaccination. I thought the recommendations were for me to take to my doctor, but as a doctor reviews the questionnaire, the meds were prescribed by that doctor. I received the appropriate U.S. Department of Health and Human Services International Certificate of Vaccination for the YF. Not all Von's Pharmacies are able to do this. My local health dept. told me about this Von's, as well as an industrial medical clinic that was able to provide the YF vac & certificate.