Hepatitis A vaccine: doses, schedule and who it is for
Set your departure and age: the checker shows the dose to have before the trip, the one that can wait, and what each costs at public price lists.
Hepatitis A: when to start
Any day before
one dose before departure is enough to leave
| Doses | 2 doses: day 0, day 180; 1 before the trip |
| Protection | From the dose given before travel |
| Published price per dose | $109 median, $75 to $129 (8 departments) |
| Series, median total with fees | $243 ($180 to $360) |
| CDC private-sector list price (Vaqta) | $86 per dose, vaccine only |
Schedule from the CDC Yellow Book (2025-04-23). Not medical advice.
| Health department | Per dose | Series with fees |
|---|---|---|
| County of Orange Health Care Agency, CA | $75 | $220 |
| Tarrant County Public Health, TX | $90 | $180 |
| Fairfax County Health Department, VA | $90 | $270 |
| Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County (approximate prices, 2025 list), FL | $107 | $214 |
| Norwalk Health Department, CT | $110 | $300 |
| Denver Health Public Health Institute, CO | $110 | $360 |
| Southwest Utah Public Health Department, UT | $114 | $228 |
| Aspetuck Health District, CT | $129 | $257 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Method and sources · CDC pages read October 24, 2026
The hepatitis A vaccine is given in two doses at least six months apart, and the first dose alone already protects most people within a month: CDC's Yellow Book reports that more than 90 percent of vaccinated people have protective antibody levels one month after it. In the United States it is a routine childhood vaccine at 12 to 23 months, with catch-up to age 18, and CDC asks adults at higher risk to prioritize it: international travelers, people experiencing homelessness, people who use drugs and men who have sex with men, plus people with chronic liver disease or HIV, who risk a more serious illness. For travel, CDC lists it for most travelers to 207 of the 242 destinations it covers. A dose costs $86 at the CDC private-sector list price and a median of $109 at the 8 county health departments that publish a self-pay price; the combined hepatitis A and B vaccine, Twinrix, takes three doses.
What the vaccine protects against
Hepatitis A is a liver infection caused by a virus that passes from hand to mouth, in food, water or close contact. It does not become chronic, but it can put an adult in bed for weeks, with jaundice, fatigue and nausea, and it is more dangerous for older people and for those whose liver is already damaged. The vaccine is inactivated, so it can be given to people with a weakened immune system, and CDC states that both types of hepatitis A vaccine are safe and highly effective, with soreness at the injection site as the most common side effect.
The two doses, and which one matters for a trip
Havrix is given at 0 and 6 to 12 months, Vaqta at 0 and 6 to 18 months. The second dose is what makes the protection long lasting, but it is not needed before departure: a healthy traveler can leave any day after the first dose, and receive the second at home six months later or more. The calculator above counts only the first dose in the timeline for that reason. People who received one dose years ago do not start over; the series simply continues with the second dose.
Three groups get a different plan. Adults over 40, people with a weakened immune system and people with chronic liver disease leaving within two weeks may receive immune globulin along with the first dose, on the advice of a clinician, because their antibodies rise more slowly. Infants of 6 to 11 months who travel receive one dose that does not count toward their routine series. And travelers allergic to a vaccine component can receive immune globulin alone, which protects for up to two months.
Hepatitis A: one dose before the trip
Hepatitis A: when to start
Any day before
| Doses | 2 doses: day 0, day 180; 1 before the trip |
| Protection | From the dose given before travel |
| Published price per dose | $109 median, $75 to $129 (8 departments) |
| Series, median total with fees | $243 ($180 to $360) |
Twinrix: hepatitis A and B together
Since CDC now lists hepatitis B for unvaccinated travelers to every destination, at all ages for some and under 60 for others, many adults ask for the combined vaccine. Twinrix, for ages 18 and up, is given at 0, 1 and 6 months, or on an accelerated schedule at 0, 7 and 21 to 30 days with a booster at 12 months for a trip that comes sooner. It costs $142 a dose at the CDC private-sector list price and a median of $148 at the health departments; three doses of Twinrix usually cost less than two of hepatitis A plus two or three of hepatitis B bought separately, but only if all three are actually given. The hepatitis B page compares the options.
Where CDC lists it for travelers
For 207 destinations, the wording is that the vaccine is recommended for unvaccinated travelers one year old or older: all of Africa, Asia outside Japan and Brunei, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. For 31 destinations, mostly in Western Europe plus Canada, Japan and New Zealand, CDC suggests considering it for most travelers and recommends it for those visiting villages and rural areas or eating street food. Only a handful of places, such as Australia and Austria, have no hepatitis A line at all. Children vaccinated on the US routine schedule are already covered; adults born before the vaccine became routine often are not.
Is hepatitis A on the list for your destination?
Travel vaccines CDC lists for most or some travelers on this trip
4 vaccines
| Yellow fever | Not needed on this route (Mexico) |
| Malaria | Prescription tablets for areas of Mexico |
| Longest lead time | 28 days before departure (Hepatitis B, 2 doses (Heplisav-B)) |
| Published price, these vaccines | $614 median, $564 to $830 |
What it costs and who pays
Because it is a routine vaccine for children and an at-risk vaccine for adults, hepatitis A is often covered by health insurance or Medicaid in the United States, unlike typhoid or yellow fever, so a check with the plan comes first. Without coverage, the 8 health departments that publish their self-pay prices charge $75 to $129 a dose, and the hepatitis A price page adds their visit and administration fees for the full series. In the United Kingdom, hepatitis A for travel is one of the jabs given free at a GP surgery, after a risk assessment.
After an exposure
The vaccine also works after contact with the virus, which matters when a restaurant outbreak or a sick family member makes the news. Given within two weeks of the exposure, a dose of vaccine (or immune globulin for some people) can prevent the illness, and a person whose first dose was given that way still needs the second dose six months later for long-term immunity. A traveler who falls ill abroad with jaundice or dark urine needs a doctor, not a vaccine.