Many foreign visitors often wonder why cost of vaccine in Thailand is much lower than in their home countries. Such as rabies vaccine may cost up to US$200 per shot in the US, but in our clinic it is just US$11 per shot. What makes this big difference? Is it really the same vaccine? from the same manufacturer? These are commonly asked questions in our clinic.
Here are some explanations;
1. Some “travel” vaccines in the western countries are actually the routine ones in Thailand. Such as Hepatitis B vaccine and JE vaccine; these two vaccines have been included in our national program of immunization for many years. We give it to every people in Thailand in their childhood. So we have to spend a huge amount of vaccine per year when compare to the western countries. So we could get a lower price just due to the economy of scale .
2. Moreover, like many medications, the pharmaceutical company usually set the price structure different from country to country. The GDP and the purchasing power of people in each country are usually the factors that they consider.
3. So according to #2,#3; we could buy most vaccines much cheaper than in the western countries. And in our clinic, just to clarify, we use only vaccines from reputable pharmaceutical manufacturers such as GSK, Sanofi Pasteur, Crucell, Berna Biotech, etc. All vaccines have to be approved from our FDA also.
4. Apart from that, our clinic and our hospital are not-for-profit organization. Our mission is to provide an excellent medical services to all, regardless Thai or foreigners. So we do not set another vaccine/medication pricing for foreigners. Everyone attends our clinic will pay the same vaccine price. (You may visit our vaccine price list in Thai here and compare to the English page ).
However, we do not recommend travelers to get their vaccine in the destination. Ideally, every travelers should get all vaccines before arrival. Since all vaccines will not work immediately, they need time to make our body develop the immunity against specific diseases. So complete the shot as early as possible is the best way to ensure maximum protection.
