Hi, I tried getting a typhoid vaccintation in Kaohsiung today at the travel clinic. They didn’t have it and the doctor made some calls to try and see if it was available anywhere, and said that it wasn’t available in Taiwan. She had also tried to get some for her clinic a year ago with no luck. Can this possibly be true? Is there really nowhere in the whole country to get a typhoid vaccination? I find this difficult to believe. Has anyone been able to get one while here? I’m leaving in September to travel and need to get it before I go. Cheers for your help.
Yeah, I was told the same thing when I tried to get the Typhoid vaccination three months ago before going to India.
I called the Center for Disease Control here in Taiwan ( 203.65.72.83/En/ ) and they told me that it wasn’t available on the Island.
I even went to the travel clinic at the CKS airport and I got the same story…apparently the Taiwanese don’t travel to typhoid infected areas of the world!!! I mean, I got the vaccination 7 years ago before I came to Taiwan as it was recommended to me by the travel clinic back in Canada. Yikes! 
However, both Taiwanese doctors I talked to suggested to just take precautions such as “washing my hands throughly WITH soap before eating, not to eat fruit or salads unless I peeled and washed it myself with bottled water and to just stay away from the generally dirty areas”. Duh! That’s a total given. I was SO not stoked.
I found out though that they DO have the vaccine to treat typhoid if in fact you do get it while away. Maybe that’ll make you feel better.
I had the option to get it while I was in India as it was hella cheap but a little too dodgey-although I totally regret it now. Where are you going? Maybe you can get it upon arrival…sure it won’t kick in for a week or so, but you can just follow the simple guidelines from the Taiwanese doctors on “HOW TO NOT GET TYPHOID”!
Good Luck!
Ya, that’s pretty much the message I got by the doctor. Hard to believe. I’ll be passing through thailand when I leave so I can sort it out there. Would have been nice to get it before leaving though. Cheers