I like to travel, but I haven't done travel immunizations before. Last year I went to Spain and got…read moresick, and so I thought for my next trip that I should look into getting some immunizations. Figure out which ones would be best for my trip.
I did a little research online and came across Atlas Immunization and booked an appointment online. They specialize in travel immunizations and they have a lot of great information. There's a $25 consult fee for your first time visit, and then the charges for the immunizations you get. They show you the price list for everything before you sign the forms. If you choose to get the consult and decline any immunizations there's a $60 fee. I went online and checked out the countries I'd be visiting and decided it would be worth it to get a couple of immunizations.
Atlas Immunization has two locations. The westend one is on Stony Plain Road, and this one (the southside location) is on 50th Street, just before the Sherwood Park Freeway (it's by the Shaw building). The reception area is nice and bright and the lady working at the front was very nice (although quite busy with the phones). There are brochures in the lobby, most about different diseases and immunizations, but they also have some travel brochures (which I looked at). There is free Shaw wifi, but I'm not sure if that's because Atlas has it or I was close enough to the Shaw business to pick it up.
My appointment got started a little late, but that's okay. The nurse I talked to was very nice. We went over my trip and where I was going and figured out what immunizations would be worth it for me. If I was going to be staying in rural areas on my trip I may have needed other immunizations, but I'm staying the major cities for my trip. She asked about my medical history and previous immunizations I'd had. I couldn't remember all of them (I forgot to get my immunization record, but we figured out what ones I'd had by default).
After the immunizations you have to wait for about 15 minutes, but during that time the nurse started talking to me about different immunizations, and different travel precautions for better health, which is nice. She gave me a immunization record, a brochure, and emailed me some information about health issues for where I'm going. One country I'm visiting is Japan and I didn't realize they have strict restrictions on what kind of medications (even over the counter non-prescription medication) you can bring in. Getting this information was very helpful.
I ended up getting three immunizations, which along with the consult fee cost $256. It's pricey, but one of the immunizations I got is good for life, the other is good for 10 years, and the last is good for 25 years if I get a booster in 6 months. I didn't feel like I was being pressured to get more immunizations than I needed. It was very relaxed, friendly, and still professional.
Travel immunizations are not covered by Alberta Health, but could be covered by your health insurance plan so be sure to get a receipt for any claims.
