We are NOT authorized by Govt of India for Yellow Fever Vaccination

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Yellow fever vaccination in India - Government versus Private sector

What are the pros and cons of Yellow Fever Vaccination in Government versus Private sector in India.
Yellow Fever Vaccine is one of the last vestiges of the License Raj regime that the government of India used to prefer in the older years.
While there may have been justification for "controlling" Yellow Fever vaccination in the yesteryears when access to good quality vaccination was difficult and importing the same impossible, this is no longer the case.
Nowadays Yellow Fever vaccination at Government level is associated with lots of Corruption, poor quality vaccine and lots of wasted time.
Here are the pros & cons of the Yellow Fever vaccination in the Government versus Private sector in India
Government Centers
- PROS
1. Cheaper Vaccine
2. Government Certificate of vaccination
3. Well known - relatively easily accessible
CONS
1. Poor quality vaccine - Chinese/ Russian vaccine at lowest tender price
2. Increased range of side-effects - More fever, local swelling, pain etc.
3. Huge waste of time - Need to take appointment 1 day prior, then be punctual and hope that a VIP has not taken your turn. Also fixed days, and centers located at only 22 places in India.
4. Multi-dose Vaccine - More chances of side-effects, need a minimum number of customers to open the vial, individual vaccination cannot be given.

Private Centers
PROS
1. Faster vaccination
2. Individuals can be vaccinated at their convenience.
3. STAMARIL - A better quality, French made vaccination by Sanofi Aventis - a well known multinational vaccine manufacturer.
4. Less side-effects

CONS
1. Expensive
2. Tough to locate the clinics since not well advertised
3. Worry about proper certification - Preferable to go to a center providing the WHO Yellow Booklet with International Certificate of Vaccination

Hope this helps you decide what is the best option in your situation for taking the Yellow Fever vaccination in India.

All information provided by Dr Gaurav Gupta, MD, Charak Clinics. Stamaril, Yellow Fever Vaccine is available at Charak Clinics, Chandigarh, North India for all travelers to Endemic Countries in Africa / Central & South America with WHO certificate of vaccination valid for 10 years. For details write to us at drgaurav-at-charakclinics.com (replace -at- by @) or call at 91-172-5092585, 91-9872303775 during Office Hours.

8 comments:

  1. Sir, I beg to differ at a point
    Majority of the vaccine used in India comes from CRI kasauli. The protective efficacy of the vaccine is no less than any other vaccine.
    Dr Vinaykumar Hallur,
    Junior Resident,
    Deptt. Of Medical Microbiology,
    Postgraduate institute of medical education and research,
    Chandigarh.

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  2. Thank you Dr Vinay for your pertinent comments.
    There has been a problem with Yellow Fever vaccine production at CRI
    http://www.himachallive.com/no-proper-plan-to-revive-cri-kasauli.html
    Hence, a lot of the Yellow Fever vaccine presently being given by the Government is imported.
    Of course, since production has restarted, the situation is likely to change over a period of time.

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  3. I have already been vaccinated a couple of weeks ago and have received a who card similar to that shown above on this website. However the one my brother got from the airport in Mumbai looks diffrent and has the emblem of the government on India on the cover. Should I be worried? Is there any way/place to varify wether my certificate is valid?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the card provided by government centers would be different.
      This is generally not a cause of concern, since any center authorized to provide WHO certificate of Vaccination is allowed to provide it with the WHO International Certificate of Vaccination. This should not cause any problems in Immigration.
      Regards

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  4. Dear Mr. Gupta,

    Is the vaccine available at your end? My brother is travelling on 12th July and needs vaccination certificate. I called on your above stated number, but your assistant told me that it is not available.

    Can you please advise/ assist.

    Thanks and Regards
    AV

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  5. Aman,

    Same situation here....did you find anywhere?

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  6. Dear Dr. Gupta,

    Is there any center in Mumbai where I can get WHO approved yellow fever vaccination? I don't have the original passport since it is submitted for visa stamping.

    Regards,

    Pratap Raychaudhuri

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  7. Thanks for sharing a great information.

    ReplyDelete