Vaccines for Ghana

A certificate at the door, for everyone

Many countries ask for a yellow fever certificate only from travelers who come from a risk area. Ghana is one of the 22 countries in CDC's data that ask it from all arriving travelers, here from the age of 9 months. A family flying from London, Toronto or Houston to Accra falls under the rule exactly as a traveler arriving overland from Togo. The route checker at the top of this page therefore shows the same verdict whatever comes before Ghana, which is the quickest way to see the difference with countries such as Kenya or Tanzania.

On the medical side, CDC's advice lines up with the border: the vaccine is recommended for all travelers 9 months or older, for the whole country, with no list of exempt cities. On October 16, 2026, CDC also posted a Level 2 travel notice about yellow fever in Ghana; the notice page carries the details. The vaccine is one dose, and the certificate counts from 10 days after it and stays valid for life. The published self-pay price at US county health departments ranges from $226 to $360.

The certificate rule creates a timing constraint that ordinary trip planning can miss. A shot given a week before the flight leaves a certificate that is not yet valid on landing. Age and health also enter the picture: the vaccine has precautions that a clinician reviews, and the yellow fever vaccine page covers travelers who cannot have it. Entry rules can change, and the Ghanaian embassy has the final word on what the border accepts.

Four shots and their total

Ghana's "most travelers" group holds hepatitis A, typhoid and hepatitis B, plus routine vaccines with MMR. Hepatitis B is listed for unvaccinated travelers of all ages, a broader line than the "younger than 60" wording CDC uses for Kenya, Mexico or Brazil. With yellow fever on top, a traveler starting from nothing faces four vaccines. Across the departments that publish all four prices and their visit fees, the total runs from $905 to $1,310, median $970, counting both hepatitis A doses and both hepatitis B doses. The simulator below adds them at one department of your choice.

Meningococcal vaccine is in the "some travelers" group: it is listed for travelers 2 months or older going to areas of Ghana that are part of the meningitis belt during the dry season, roughly December to June, at $164 a dose at the median. Cholera vaccine may be considered for areas of active transmission, which CDC places in the regions of Ashanti, Central, Greater Accra, Northern and Western, each with a last case reported 9 to 12 months ago; the oral vaccine costs $313 at the median. Chikungunya vaccination is generally not recommended. Dogs with rabies are common, and post-bite vaccine may only be available in larger suburban or urban facilities, which is the factor CDC asks long stay travelers to discuss ($838 for two pre-exposure doses at the median).

Malaria everywhere in Ghana

CDC's transmission area for Ghana is one word: all. There is no altitude limit and no city exception, so Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast and the national parks of the north sit in the same category. P. falciparum causes most infections, and chloroquine resistance is reported; the drugs CDC lists are atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine.

Because the whole stay counts, the tablet count follows the trip length directly. For two weeks, atovaquone-proguanil comes to 23 tablets (about $33 at the price pharmacies pay), doxycycline to 44 tablets (about $5), mefloquine to 8 weekly tablets. The prescriber looks at health history, pregnancy and other medicines before choosing.