Mar 10, 2006

Yellow Fever Vaccination Information

This is for those of you who have been searching high and low, and in google, for information on the hows and whys of Yellow Fever Vaccination (with international certificate) in India. Well, I got it done yesterday, so, still stinging from the needle prick, I thought I'd post up.

Starters:
When you search for information for Mumbai, you'll always come up with detailed addresses and phone numbers for Delhi, but for none of the other Indian cities. Thumb rule, if it has an international airport, it probably has a immunization centre for yellow fever as well. Specifically, Mumbai has two centres. The less crowded one is at the (Sahaar) International Airport (call +91-22-26828991. Currently, Dr Tambare administers the injection). You take the road to Arrivals 2A, and look for a faded yellow board (it's the only one on this wall) on the flyover (which leads to Departures above) wall. This will be about two hundred metres down the road on your left from the flyover beginning. The other one, far more crowded is at Ballard Estate (call +91-22-22612256). The address I have given over the phone is Naubhavan Building, Third floor, Ramji Bhai Kamani Marg, Ballard Estate, Mumbai. That's the phonetically correct address, so a few spellings might vary. There's more. The centres are open roughly between 14:30 and 16:00. But queues start early. The Airport lines begin to get drawn by about 14:00, while the Ballard Estate centre, the chap tells me, has people standing from 10:00. Pathetic.

Papers:
You only need to carry an attested copy of your passport, but like all Indian government offices, the rules vary with the predictability of women's minds. Some people in the queue told us that just yesterday, a few people were turned away for not having passport copies they could submit, others because their copies (to show only) were not attested... Also, they immunize in batches of five, so if you're left at the end in an odd group, tough luck. Having an original passport is a HUGE bonus.

Process:
The process is quite quick. So if you're not careful, you won't have the time to notice whether or not the doctor drew a fresh needle for you. You've been warned. I'm saying this not because the doctor means harm, but that you won't have the peace of mind about it later, if you don't watch out for it. Tambare, for instance, is reassuring, always smiling and as quick as a darting honey bee.

Notes:
I think you can take it from here...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

wht if there is a shortage of vaccine?
I hv visited 5 times n no bdy answered this question.
Can any bdy pls pls let me knw if there is shortage at such health cent. then can we take it from govt. hospitals? will tat be accepted by immigration officers?
or else wht can be the option?
One police man told very rudely to call up the health minister and ask.
nw i dnt knw hw to contact health minister:)
pls help if any bdy can....

Anonymous said...

i have to go to Zambia aroung 22nd August, i too need to take yellow fever vaccine. while surfing the web to know about yellow fever vaccination centers in Mumbai i came to know that there is shortage of the vaccines at both the centres of Mumbai.Can anybody plz tell me where can i get the vaccination as the earliest?my email id is nirala66@gmail.com