I’ve never been scared of needles. Especially in hospitals, those people know what they’re doing. Why is everyone freaking out because of a teensy-tiny needle? I don’t get it.
Anyway, for my exchange year I needed to get four different vaccinations:
- tetanus (jäykkökouristusrokote): must be renewed every 10 years. In Finland you get this free from your school’s health clinic.
- twinrix (hepatiitti/hepatitis A&B): protect you from liver infections caused by viruses. You need to be given 3 vaccinations, the second a month after the first, and third after a year. The liquid from pharmacy costs about 50e per one shot but injecting it was free at my uni’s health clinic. Altogether, I’ll be paying about 150 euros.
- ixiaro (japanin aivotulehdus/japanese brain-fever): Two shots, the second one 28 days after the first one. One shot is about 125 euros from my local pharmacy. Totally costs me about 250 euros.
- nimerix (aivokalvon ja selkäytimen tulehdus, sekä veren infektio/meningnitis and spinal infection, and blood infection): One shot, about 60 euros from local pharmacy.
Staying healthy is proving costly, man. Sigh. But I’m staying in Japan for a year so this was a must. Totally all vaccinations cost me around 460 euros. I did save some money by going to my uni’s health clinic for the injections because they are free there. In the pharmacy they would have asked 15 euros per injection but in a rush that would have been one option.
If you’re staying in Japan less than 4 weeks, you usually need only hepatitis injections. Always talk to your doctor and hear their recommendations because they vary on the length of your stay, location and travel plans. Please stay healthy and safe, everyone! Don’t take unnecessary risks that might prove even more costly in the future because you didn’t take any precautions.