Travel vaccinations - what to think about before you book the flight

Most people book the flights, the hotel and the airport transfer before they ever think about vaccines. We'd flip the order. The illnesses travel jabs protect against - yellow fever, hepatitis A and B, typhoid, rabies - are uncommon in the UK precisely because we vaccinate against them. Step off a plane in the wrong place without cover and you're back to square one.

• Real protection against serious infectious disease
• Some countries require proof of vaccination at the border (Saudi Arabia for MenACWY, several African countries for yellow fever)
• Most travel insurance policies expect you to have the recommended vaccines - if you don't, a claim can be refused
• You're less likely to spread something on the way home
• A healthier trip, plain and simple

Six to eight weeks before you fly is the comfortable window. Some courses - rabies, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis - need multiple doses spaced weeks apart, and the body needs time to build a proper response. If you're already inside that window, book anyway: a partial course is better than nothing, and we'll be honest with you about what you can realistically achieve.

Our travel pharmacist runs through your destination, your itinerary, your vaccination history and any underlying conditions. Two people heading to the same country can need different jabs depending on what they're doing - a beach week in Goa is not a month of rural fieldwork in Goa. We give you a written plan, and where we can, we administer the vaccines at the same appointment.

Mosquito repellents that actually work, rehydration sachets, sunscreen at sensible prices, flight socks, travel sickness tablets and antimalarials where appropriate. The vaccine is the headline - but a good travel kit is the supporting cast.

We see travellers aged twelve and up. Book online or call the pharmacy and ask for a travel consultation.