FREE Yellow Fever Vaccine in Quito
- Jordan & Emily
- Jul 4, 2023
- 3 min read
Getting the proper vaccines to travel in South America is imperative! unfortauntely at home in Australia the vaccine can be expensive ($130 - $170 AUD) and can get REALLY expensive in other countries like America ($170 - $200 USD). So when we found out you can get a FREE yellow fever vaccine in Quito. We we're determined to figure it out!
I wanted to put all the details into a blog post so there are no excuses for anyone who comes through quito! So, this is how you do it!.
Step one: Find the right hospital
The Hospital in Quito you want to go to in order to get the FREE yellow fever vaccine is called 'Health Center No 1' and it's located right near the old historic centre (The prettiest part of quito!) With any luck you'll be staying close by. It was only a 15 minute walk for us! When you arrive you'll be greated by a big facade that would be considered pretty gorgeous if it wasnt surrounded by stunning architecture.
To enter the hospital you will need to have a face mask on. If you've forgotten to bring yours along (like we did) there will likely be a nice man out the front selling them for 25c each!
Step Two: Register for your Vaccine
Once you get in the building head straight up the stairs to the third floor. Once on the 3rd floor take a left until you see a building with a sign that reads 'Sala Situational' This is where you will register. Wait patiently out the front for someone to colect you. Vaccines start by 7:30am and it tends to get really busy after 9am so try and get their as early as possible. We arrived at 8:30 and had to wait about 20 minutes.
After you've been shown into the ofice you'll sit down and need to present some documents. Namely your passport. The hospital wll also collect the address of where your staying in Quito as well as the best contact number for the property. This is ALL communicated in Spanish as there isn't much English known in the hospital so best come prepared!
Two useful spanish phrases for the day: Yellow fever vaccine: 'vacuna contra la fiebre amarilla' International certificate: 'certificado internacional' Registration only takes about 5 minutes, afterward you collect your passport and head downstairs to the second floor.
Step Three: Get the Vaccine
Right in front of the second floor stairs you'll see big signs saying 'Vacunas' as well as a lot of images of needles! This is where you'll get the jab. Outside the room there are a mix of people waiting to recieve the vaccine as well as those who have just recieved theirs and are waiting for some mandatory observation so it's best to just do a little knock on the door and politely let them know you're also waiting for a vaccine. (This feels rude and like your pushing in but if you just sit and wait theres a chance you won't be noticed at all)
Once it's your turn, hand over your passport once again and you'll be asked if you need an 'International certificate' you definitely do, that's the only way to prove you've actually had the Vaccine so you certainly need it. Then you'll be shown to the small room where the injection happens. Suprisingly it was the most painless one we've ever had. Once stabbed you are directed to wait outside once again before being called into collect your passports. You check your named and passport on the certificate is correct, sign it and then sign their paper stating you've recieved it and your good to go! THAT'S IT! you just recieved the Free yellow fever vaccine in Quito and can worry less about those pesky mosquitos! Oh and you also saved $170USD!
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