Going away this winter? When to start on travel vaccines and malaria tablets
Every December people come to the counter a few days before a flight to ask what they need. Some of it can still be done at short notice, but some vaccines need more than one dose spread over weeks, and some malaria tablets have to be started well before you go. If you are travelling for Christmas, New Year or some winter sun, now is a good time to check.
How far ahead to plan
The NHS advises getting travel advice at least 4 to 6 weeks before you go. If you are already closer than that, come in anyway: a lot can still be done, and advice on food, water and insect bites still helps.
Bring the details of your trip: the countries and regions, how long you are staying, whether you will be in cities or rural areas, and anything you plan to do, such as trekking or visiting family in villages. Your vaccination record helps too, if you have it.
What is free on the NHS
Some travel vaccines are free from your GP surgery, usually after you fill in a travel risk form:
- cholera
- hepatitis A
- typhoid
- polio, given as a combined booster with diphtheria and tetanus
Others are usually paid for: hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, rabies and tick-borne encephalitis. Yellow fever is only given at registered yellow fever centres, which you can find through the NaTHNaC website. We are not one of them.
Malaria
If you are going somewhere with malaria, you may need tablets. You usually start them a few days or weeks before you go, depending on the type, and carry on for a few weeks after you get back. Which tablet suits you depends on where you are going, your health and anything else you take, so this is a conversation, not a shelf you pick from.
Tablets do not replace avoiding bites. Use an insect repellent with 50% DEET, sleep under a treated mosquito net, and cover up with long sleeves and trousers in the evening.
Malaria symptoms usually start 7 to 18 days after a bite, but can take months. If you get a fever or feel unwell within a year of visiting a malaria country, get an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111, and say where you have been.
Check your destination
The TravelHealthPro country pages list the vaccines recommended for each country, current outbreaks, and whether you need a yellow fever certificate to enter.
Our travel clinic
At our travel clinic in Brighton the pharmacist goes through your trip, explains what you need and why, and can give most travel vaccines privately and supply malaria tablets in the same appointment. The vaccines that are free on the NHS stay free at your GP surgery. Call us on 01273 681715 or ask at the counter.
Common questions
I fly in 10 days. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. Some travel vaccines are a single dose, and some malaria tablets are started only a day or two before you go. Come in as soon as you can.
I am visiting family in the country I grew up in. Do I still need anything?
Very likely. Any protection you had from living there fades after you leave, and UK travellers visiting friends and relatives in Africa are at the highest risk of malaria.
Sources
- NHS: travel vaccinations
- NHS: malaria
- TravelHealthPro (NaTHNaC)
- TravelHealthPro: travelling to visit friends and relatives
Last checked against these sources on 22 October 2026.
