Practical guide
Travel vaccines: pharmacy or doctor?
Several pharmacies in French-speaking Switzerland offer travel advice with vaccination. For some trips, that’s the right choice. For others, it isn’t. Here is what each can do, so you can choose based on your trip and your health.
What the pharmacy does well
For a healthy adult heading to a straightforward destination (city trip, classic tourist circuit, short stay), pharmacy advice is quick, nearly walk-in, and often cheaper. Routine vaccine updates, basic advice: pharmacies handle this well.
When you need a doctor
| Your situation | Why a medical consultation |
|---|---|
| Yellow fever required (Africa, South America, some transits) | This live vaccine is restricted to certified centres, so pharmacies cannot give it. Our practice is a certified centre. |
| Children and infants | Paediatric schedules and doses, age-appropriate prevention: outside what a pharmacy can do. |
| Pregnancy or breastfeeding | Some vaccines are contraindicated, others especially important. It’s a medical decision, case by case. |
| Chronic disease, immunosuppression | Interactions, contraindications, live vaccines: this needs a medical assessment. |
| Malaria area | Malaria prophylaxis is a prescription medicine, chosen according to your health and itinerary. |
| Complex itinerary or long stay (round-the-world, expatriation, humanitarian work) | Full risk assessment, pre-exposure rabies, Japanese encephalitis, altitude… |
| Health problem during the trip | The TravelDoctor.ch team remains available throughout your stay, by telemedicine. |
| Health problem after the trip (fever, persistent diarrhoea…) | This needs an urgent medical diagnosis. Malaria is tested for the same day. |
In practice
The simple rule: simple destination and healthy adult, the pharmacy can be enough. For everything else, a travel medicine consultation.
When in doubt, a short consultation settles it. Ours is billed by actual time, and vaccines are given the same day, in Lausanne, in Bulle or after a teleconsultation.
Frequently asked questions
Can a pharmacy give the yellow fever vaccine?
No. Yellow fever vaccination is restricted to certified vaccination centres, which also issue the international certificate required at borders. TravelDoctor is a centre certified by the FOPH.
Is pharmacy advice cheaper?
Often, yes, for a simple case. That’s its strength. But if your itinerary needs prescriptions, specialized vaccines or a medical assessment, a consultation avoids duplicates and gaps. Overall, it usually ends up cheaper.
I have a chronic condition: can I still go to the pharmacy?
For a simple booster, sometimes. But once long-term treatment, immunosuppression or a significant condition is involved, preparing the trip calls for a team specialized in travel medicine, ideally together with your GP.
Written by the TravelDoctor team under the responsibility of Dr med. Ludovico Cobuccio, FMH specialist in infectious diseases (DTM&H, CTH). The team also includes an FPH pharmacist certified in travel medicine. We know both sides of the counter. Last review: August 2026.