Recommended and required vaccines to participate on an in-person Brigade
Global Brigades recommends that volunteers visit the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website for the most up-to-date information on vaccine recommendations for traveling to our partner Program countries. Some vaccinations must be administered a few months or weeks before you travel. Vaccinations can usually be obtained from a healthcare provider or through a travel clinic.
Remember to always consult your physician for the best-recommended treatment options.
Below is a list of CDC-recommended vaccinations and those required by each country’s government. Each volunteer is responsible for personally fulfilling any vaccine requirements and ensuring that all the required paperwork is attained before their Brigade.
RECOMMENDED VACCINES
- Routine vaccines
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B (IOM highly recommends for Greece)
- Measles
- Rabies
- Polio booster (Ghana only)
- Malaria (all countries except Greece, recommended for all volunteers traveling to Ghana)
- Typhoid (all countries except Greece)
- COVID-19 vaccine and booster (highly recommended for all countries)
REQUIRED VACCINES
- Honduras: Yellow Fever
Anyone who is flying to Honduras from any of the countries (including if you have a layover over 12 hours in any of these countries*):
Central America and the Caribbean
Panama, Trinidad & Tobago
South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador,
Guyana Francesa, Guyana, Perú, Surinam, Venezuela y Paraguay
Africa
Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana,
Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya,
Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic
Central African, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, Togo and
Uganda
You are exempt from this vaccine if you had a layover in one of these countries but never exited the airport premises, even if the layover was longer than 12 hours. You are also exempt if you missed a flight and were sent directly to a hotel and then directly to the airport, only if you never left the hotel.
Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate
If you do require vaccination, you will need to get a vaccination certificate and present it when entering Honduras. If you do not have the yellow certificate card, you may not be granted access into the country.
Some people are exempt from vaccination even if they are flying in from the mentioned countries.
- Have an egg allergy or allergic to other vaccine ingredients
- Pregnancy
- Immunosuppression
- Individuals above 60 years of age
- Individuals with Thymus hyperplasia/cancer
If you believe you need an exemption, talk to your healthcare provider. They will need to provide you with a certified letter detailing your exemption. It needs to be signed and on official clinic paper.
- Guatemala: Yellow Fever
You are required to present a yellow fever vaccination certificate when entering Guatemala if you are coming directly from a country where yellow fever is considered an endemic disease (e.g. Panama). If you do not have or are able to present your proof of vaccination, you may not be allowed to board. There is only one exception when it comes to this policy:- If you are traveling to Guatemala directly from the U.S. or a country where yellow fever is not present, there is no government requirement to have the yellow fever vaccine.
- Panama: Yellow Fever
You are required to present the yellow fever certificate if you are planning on traveling from Panama to a country that has yellow fever or requires yellow fever vaccines (e.g. Honduras). If you do not have or are able to present your proof of vaccination, you may not be allowed to board. There is only one exception when it comes to this policy:- If you are traveling to Panama directly from the U.S. or a country where yellow fever is not present, there is no government requirement to have the yellow fever vaccine.
- Ghana: Yellow Fever and Malaria
The yellow fever vaccination is REQUIRED to enter Ghana. If you do not bring proof of your yellow fever vaccination, you may not be allowed to board the plane to Ghana, or you may be turned away at immigration.
- While malaria prophylaxis is not required, malaria is extremely prevalent throughout Ghana. That's why we recommend all volunteers take malaria prophylaxis. Make sure to discuss which prophylaxis is best for you and your trip with your physician well before your Brigade.