Confused as to what vaccines are required for London medical

[SL2024 60]

On 8/3/2024 at 1:06 AM, RandomNameUK said:

Hi what proof do I need to bring if I go to boots for a covid vaccination？I assume a confirmation email for the appointment is not sufficient. 

 

I think I just gave my name and showed them the booking confirmation message I received by text

[Melancholic Mage 87]

So, went to the doctors today with my list of vaccinations needed...

 

And they were completely baffled. Confused. Apparently I had 2/5 Polio vaccinations (which she kept asking me why that is like I would know because ****ty parents), I don't have Hepatitis B which I need 3 jabs of for a full course, and they topped me up with some tetanus booster today. There's no records of me having chicken pox, I have no idea if I need full courses of vaccinations to clear the medical, and if I do how do I get them all before my embassy appointment next month when I need to leave weeks between each jab?

 

I'm now completely thrown, confused, feeling like a pincushion, and hemorrhaging money.

 

And this isn't even mentioning the mental health letters and such that I apparently need as backup.

 

Can someone for the love of America please tell me if one recent dose of each vaccine is needed, or am I going to be kept in the UK like some sort of test rat while they inject me with every single thing to complete every single course needed? I literally don't know what to do from here. And my doctors are completely useless to the point they couldn't even update my COVID booster onto my vaccination records. They're that bad.

[SL2024 60]

I didn’t get any vaccines done before my medical as I felt it was better to go and have a medical professional at Visa Medicals tell me what I needed based on my vaccination records as they will know more about what is required for the USA rather than my GP.

 

Before my medical I did ring my GP Surgery and spoke to reception and gave them a list of vaccinations that weren’t on my vaccination records and whether they did them there. They spoke to a nurse and called me back and I think they only did 1 or 2 but the ones they did offer weren’t the ones I required from what the nurse at my medical told me. So I was happy to get the vaccines that were required for me except for the Covid vaccine booster which I got done at Boots after my medical.

 

Vaccination requirements will depend on things like age, etc. as well. 
 

I think it might be best to discuss with the nurse at your medical though.

[Melancholic Mage 87]

30 minutes ago, SL2024 said:

I didn’t get any vaccines done before my medical as I felt it was better to go and have a medical professional at Visa Medicals tell me what I needed based on my vaccination records as they will know more about what is required for the USA rather than my GP.

 

Before my medical I did ring my GP Surgery and spoke to reception and gave them a list of vaccinations that weren’t on my vaccination records and whether they did them there. They spoke to a nurse and called me back and I think they only did 1 or 2 but the ones they did offer weren’t the ones I required from what the nurse at my medical told me. So I was happy to get the vaccines that were required for me except for the Covid vaccine booster which I got done at Boots after my medical.

 

Vaccination requirements will depend on things like age, etc. as well. 
 

I think it might be best to discuss with the nurse at your medical though.

 

Thank you so much. You've helped me feel a bit better. I'm furious with my doctors, I had to even correct the nurse who was dithering around for about 40 minutes looking over the vaccination sheet I brought. Literally 40 minutes. I didn't think it would be so hard to tell if I had such-and-such or not. I'm going to pay £30 tomorrow to get the first of the three jab course of the Hepatitis B vax since the visa medical list price it at around £90, so I might save some money... unless they offer one jab that's as good as all three. Then I'd have wasted £30 I could have put towards the full dose.

 

I simply have no idea.

 

I'm just trying to show the medical staff I'm trying to fill out what's missing when I go down there in a few days at this point. I'm so worried they'll reject my medical. The embassy doesn't worry me, it's this that does.

[SL2024 60]

They aren’t going to reject your medical if you haven’t had some of the vaccinations before. As they can give you most of the vaccinations on the day for the ones that they tell you that you require. 
 

If there are some you can get that are cheaper elsewhere then you can choose to do that after the medical.
 

I would go to the medical and let them tell you which ones you need. I did and it turned out that there were some that I didn’t actually need. 

[Melancholic Mage 87]

I think just seeing them to feel like I'm actually under qualified medical professionals would be nice. The nurse who jabbed me didn't even stick a plaster over the injection site, let alone clean it. I'm not joking. Or wait five minutes to see if I'd have a severe allergic reaction which I thought was mandatory care. And being unable to stick my COVID booster on my records to boot, admitting she didn't know how to?

 

I just feel sick and I can't tell if it's from severe stress or from the Td/IPV payload.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Makes me feel better rocking up there without much other than confusion and injection marks. I fly soon after the medical to see my partner again so my extra worry is if I need anything else before the embassy appointment, I'm going to struggle timewise to arrange things. Unless I just get whatever is missing in the USA.

[SL2024 60]

I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience at your GP Surgery but try not to worry too much about it (easier said than done I know). Definitely see what they say at the medical as they will know what vaccinations are exactly required for you and can probably do most of the vaccinations you require on the day.

[Tesco 70]

The easy option is to leave it with Visa Medicals. Apart  from the COVID vaccine already discussed, they’ll sort you out on the day. Just get your side taken care of and leave the rest to them.