Recommended and Required Vaccines to Participate in 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
Due to changes in Honduran vaccination policies, any individual who is coming directly from a country in which yellow fever is present (e.g. Panama) must bring and present their yellow fever vaccination certificate to immigration when entering Honduras. Your certificate must show that your vaccination took place 10 or more days before entering Honduras. If you do not have or are able to present your proof of vaccination, you may not be granted access to the country. Some exceptions to this policy include:- Travelers who are on their way to Honduras and did a layover in a country in which yellow fever is present, regardless of their time in transit.
- Travelers who, even though they were recently in a yellow fever country, spent 6 or more days in a country where yellow fever is not present and are asymptomatic before entering Honduras.
- 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.