Yellow Fever Vaccination in Bangalore!

For a person like me who has traveled a lot across the world for business I love to travel to have a feel of different cultures, foods and customs. However when it comes to the preparation of the travel plans I have still not been able derive any pleasure of the same….for me it’s a real pain and something I am happier without. Yet, when it comes to business travel is a necessary evil and some months back I had an invitation to visit a factory in Africa for an assessment of their plant. I had never been to that part of the world and during the course of applying for the visa I understood that a yellow fever vaccination is a prerequisite without which one cannot travel.

I did a bit of research on the net and found that such vaccinations are normally administered with government hospitals but the process of getting the same is cumbersome and complicated. The charges are nominal but then it is a painful process with a physical presence required to make an appointment, then turning up again for the vaccination etc. A useful link I found was http://yellowfevervaccine.blogspot.in/2012/07/where-can-i-get-yellow-fever.html

I researched more online and got came across International Health Clinic located in Domlur, Bangalore which claimed to be authorized to administer the vaccines. There is nothing international about it and it’s just a private clinic who is making good business due to government inefficiencies. I took some numbers from them to cross reference and it did seem that they do the vaccinations for quite a few companies such as Wipro, Infosys etc. who cannot let their business travel needs be left to the mercy of the government whims and fancies. I had a talk with the Director HR of a reputed organization and he confirmed to me that these guys could be trusted and that he himself had taken the shots whilst applying for a Brazilian visa.

With the confirmation I was more comfortable and called back Arun +91 8095003000 at International Health Clinic and he was kind enough to confirm that he would come across to a location of my choice and administer the vaccine. We met at my residence and he showed me the packing of the vial before proceeding to open it. He claims he has enough experience in giving the shots but I refused politely at his offer to administer the vaccine…..no offense but I wanted a professional to do so……so we walked to the nearby clinic and the job was done. He paid for the administration charges at the clinic. No favour done considering that they charged me INR 5K for a measly shot.

It is critical to review the certificate issued by them (on the spot) such that it contains all correct details of the passport else it would be considered as invalid.

Though the embassy site had instructed the submission of the yellow fever certificate in original as a prerequisite to the issuance of the visa my agent managed to circumvent this requirement on the basis of a scanned copy of the same.

The certificate is valid for 10 years and it was duly checked by the immigration authorities both in India and at the destination on both inward and outward journeys. Happy to travel knowing I can come to my country safe and sound and not be quarantined to a local government hospital for 6 days……what a relief!!