It is possible to get a free yellow fever vaccine in Medellín, Colombia. Wether you are a resident of Medellín or a traveller passing through on your way to the Amazon, there is a doctor’s office that gives out 40 free yellow fever vaccinations every day.
UPDATE September 2019: Please see Constanze’s comment below for up-to-date information regarding Yellow Fever vaccines in Medellin.
How to Get the Yellow Fever Vaccine for Free
Only the first 40 people who show up to The Doral Consultorios in Medellín will get a free yellow fever vaccine. Here are some tips to follow in order to ensure you get your free yellow fever vaccination.
1.) Know Where You Are Going
The Doral Consultorios is located at Cra. 45 #50-48, Medellín, Antioquia. I had a bit of trouble finding the entrance, so I’ve included the street view of the office below. The entrance is between the two shops and says EL DORAL CONSULTORIOS above the door.
The parent company of The Doral Consultorios is Prevnm as you can see by the light green sign on the second floor of the building.
2.) Get There Early!
The doctor’s office opens at 7:30 AM every morning except Sunday. I made the mistake of arriving at 7 AM, and there was already a long line of people waiting outside. Because of my late arrival, I did not get my yellow fever vaccine for free—more on this below.
I would suggest to arrive as early as 6 AM to ensure that you get your vaccine. The earlier you arrive, the sooner you will get your vaccine. For example, if you are 39th in line, you may end up waiting close to 7 hours to get your vaccine since each administration of the vaccine takes around 10 minutes per person.
3.) Come Prepared with Documents
You must bring proof of future travel to a yellow fever risk area in order to get a free yellow fever vaccine. This could be a copy of a plane ticket or a bus ticket. A free vaccine will not be given if you cannot prove your travel or you plan to travel to an area that does not recommend the vaccination.
You also need to bring identification. I used my passport, but a license should work fine. I would suggest bringing a copy of this document to expedite the process.
Can I Pay for a Yellow Fever Vaccine?
Yes. This is what I ended up doing. Because I was not among the first 40 people in line at The Doral Consultorios and I did not have proof of travel to an area with recommended yellow fever vaccine, I had the option to pay for the yellow fever vaccine.
The yellow fever vaccine cost me 67,000 Colombian pesos (COP) which is just under $20 USD. I paid cash on the spot and got a receipt. The price of a yellow fever vaccine in Colombia is significantly cheaper than in the states. If you itinerary allows for it, I would recommend waiting until you arrive in Medellín to save some money on the vaccine. Please note that it is recommended to get the yellow fever vaccine 10 days before you travel to a risk area.
Even though I was near the end of the line, I did not have to wait all day to get my vaccination. I believe that priority is given to paying patients, so this is something to consider if you don’t have a lot of time.
Is It Safe to Get a Yellow Fever Vaccine in Medellín?
Yes it is safe. My experience with getting a yellow fever vaccination in Medellín was a pleasant one. Prior to this, I have never been to a doctor outside of the United States.
I found the doctor’s office to be clean and well kept. The staff was friendly and organized. I did not speak any Spanish, and the doctor and nurses didn’t know any English. We used the Google Translate app on my phone to communicate without problem.
It was also reassuring to find that the Medellín government recommends The Doral Consultorios for yellow fever vaccines in Medellín.
For me personally, I got my yellow fever vaccine in preparation for my slow boat trip down the Amazon River to Iquitos.
Have any questions about getting the yellow fever vaccine in Medellín? Let me know in the comments below, and I’d be more than happy to help you out!
Hello, I want to go to Peru/Lima in ca. 10 days. Right now I’m in Medellin and I want to ask if peru or especially Lima is a area with recommended yellow fever vaccine. Cause of the free shot 🙂
Thank you
Tom
Hey Tom, if you’re sticking to the Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu areas you do not need a yellow fever vaccine according the the US State Department https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/peru
Do you get a proof of your vaccin? Like a document or stamp or anything?
Yep, they gave me a vaccine booklet and noted the date that I received my yellow fever vaccine.
Thanks for the write up. Very helpful.
You are very welcome!
Hi Tony,
My brother and I were (are?) planning a trip to Canos Cristales. We were planning on taking the 4 day trip on 6/17-6/21. Initially it appeared that we would need yellow fever vaccines, but here in the US (as you probably know), there is a shortage of vaccine and it would be impossible to get an appointment and vaccine before at least the 20th of June. You know the cost! I was going to cancel the trip, but the tour operator sad that because we are older than 60 (makes me cringe to say it), we don’t have to take a vaccine. I researched it online and it appears that there was only one case of YF in Colombia in 2018! So the risk does sound quite low. In any case I plan to come to Medellin on 6/12 anyway. Is there somewhere to obtain a YF vaccine without waiting in line. I don’t mind paying. (I bought insulin for my son at Pasteur for 10% of the cost in the US!)
Thanks,
Alan
If you go to the clinic mentioned in this article and tell them that you are willing to pay for the vaccine, you will be given priority and skip the line of people waiting for a free vaccine. Knowing some Spanish is helpful, but if not there is a translator available. The cost of the yellow fever vaccine is 61,000 COP or less than $20 US dollars.
Thank you for your post – it is very helpful. Do you need to bring proof of future travel if you are paying for the vaccine? Also (long shot) do you know if you need the vaccine to go to San Gil?
Thanks 🙂
No, you don’t need any proof of travel to pay for your yellow fever vaccine here.
Not sure if you need the vaccine for San Gil. I usually check on travel.state.gov and cdc.gov for the latest vaccine information.
WATCH OUT EVERYONE!!!
The vaccination is now done by a company called Previnm.
Close to the team station Pabellón de Agua.
It’s in a shopping center on the sixth floor.
The address is Calle 49, no 40-11.
Otherwise procedures are as described.
Reception asked me for prints of documents but the doctors never glanced at them (so technically it wasn’t necessary ad reception asled me to go copy and then didn’t look at it anymore…)
Thanks for the updated information!
Worked great. I just did this and I got it for free by doing the following:
Showed up roughly 8.30 am and only had to wait about 20 minutes for my turn
They told me that I could get it for free if I had a ticket and proof of my trip. But I didn’t so I went downstairs to take out cash (73k pesos) for it when I realized I could probably just get a fake plane ticket using keyflight.io/fake (you can generate a flight ticket that looks real but isn’t) and it might work.
So I decided quickly to generate one from:
MDE (Medellín)
to:
LMC (La Macarena)
And set it one week in the future, and voila – the generator did the rest.
Shortly after they called my name and I showed the ticket to the nurse who said it had to be printed.
Luckily there was a printer shop on the 2nd floor so she told me to just go down and print it and come back up, which I did. Then she didn’t even look at the paper.
So it worked like a charm, thanks for the great guide.
/Magnus
I would like to confirm this information for other interested people.
I was there today at Tramvia Plaza on Calle 49, no 40-11. I arrived around 11am. I waited about 15 minutes. Next 15 minutes write paper and vaccination itself. I paid 63,000COP. You can pay by card or cash.
Thank you Petr for the update!
We just went today and this post and comments were so helpful. It was just as you all had said. Thank you! It was 67,000 COP today but still very worth it. All the staff was so nice.
Awesome, I’m so happy that this helped you! I’ll update the blog post with the updated cost.
Anyone been there recently and know if this is still an option?
Has anyone gone recently? Wondering if this is still a thing during covid.
yes it works
I want to know if this is still valid?
I want to go to tayrona park and they require this vaccine.
I went today and got the vaccination.
Calle 49 #40-11
6th Floor. up 3 floors of escalators. Then take the elevator to the 6th. Door to your left.
About 20 people in the office when I arrived. Previous post said there was preference for paid people. I didn’t want to wait so I paid. They give you a tag with your number/color. All 20 people went through fairly quickly. I should have tried to get it for free. I did not seem to get preference for paying. I was out of the building in 30 mins.
Got the vaccine this morning at the same location as Curt. Was told it would take about an hour when I arrived at 10:00, so I took a ticket and left to walk around the area. Returned an hour later and was almost immediately brought in to do the paperwork. Cost was 77,000.
Got the vaccine thanks to info on this thread. Arrived at noon, no wait, paid 77,000 pesos (about $20) which was amazing since it would have cost me around $200 USD to get vaccinated back in the States! Only confusing part is there are a few sets of elevators–after getting to the 3rd floor via escalators, you want to wind your way toward the back of the building, past the food court, to get to the correct escalators. The elevators closest to the escalators are guarded by security and are the wrong ones.
Thanks to everyone for posting such helpful information on this thread!
Price is now 85000. Arrived around 10:40 and left around 11:30