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- Traveling but don’t want to be Vaccinated?

Last Updated: 10/16/2012

However, you may have been told that you HAVE to, it's legally required to enter or leave the country? Think twice (or 197,305,774,481,394 times) and with just a little bit of research you may find it isn't REALLY necessary at all. This is happening even in our churches with people wanting to go on Missions Trips. I would have thought that in our churches we would be encouraged to exercise our right to freedom of autonomy. If that is the case somewhere, I'd like to hear about it.

I was just asked if someone is traveling to the Dominican Republic, are they required to be vaccinated and provide proof of such with travel documents. Here is the answer:

There are no immunization requirements to enter the Dominican Republic, but it is recommended that travelers visit their physician be up to date on certain vaccinations prior to their vacation. Here are some recommend vaccines and why they are important to have before going to the Dominican Republic:

Vaccine	Reason
Hepatitis A	All travelers should be up-to-date on this vaccination
Hepatitis B	Important for those visiting the island for 6 months or more or having intimate contact with local residents
Typhoid	Travelers eating outside of hotels and restaurants should consider having this vaccination
Rabies	People who may have contact with local animals should have this
Routine immunizations	All travelers should be up-to-date on tetanus-diphtheria, measles-mumps-rubella, polio, and varicella immunizations

"Yellow fever is present only in Trinidad & Tobago in this region. A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries in the region if you have visited Trinidad & Tobago or an endemic area in South America or sub-Saharan Africa. For detailed information, see Comprehensive Yellow Fever Vaccination Requirements."

"The Yellow Fever vaccine has been linked to multiple organ system failure virtually identical to severe and fatal cases of yellow fever caused by the wild-type of yellow fever virus. It may also cause profound nervous system reactions, including: Guillain-Barre´ syndrome and neurotropic disease. Other adverse reactions include: asthma, life-threatening allergic reactions and systemic reactions such as fever, headache, muscle ache, weakness and malaise, which often persists up to 10 days." Vaccine Safety Manual, Neil Z. Miller pg 448

Different countries have different laws requiring vaccines to enter or leave the country. Most developed countries, including those in Europe and the US, currently do not require visitors to show proof of vaccination. However, some countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere may require certain vaccines to enter or exit. Check the CDC website on travel vaccine requirements. The US State Department provides a standard form permitting a waiver "if compliance with the vaccination requirement would be contrary to the alien’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.” Authorities will not tell you about this waiver form so you must be persistent.

If you're traveling to a different country, start with a google search of the particular country you are traveling to with their vaccination requirements and you will get a page like this:

As always, just because someone tells you something, doesn't mean it's true. NEVERMIND THEM...find out for yourself!

That should help you narrow it down, then be sure to check what you find against the following sources:

- Traveling but don’t want to be Vaccinated?

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