Travel vaccination
Hepatitis A Vaccine in Epsom
Hepatitis A is the most common vaccine-preventable infection UK travellers pick up abroad. It spreads through contaminated food and water, and through close personal contact, and the illness gets worse with age rather than better. Children often barely notice it. Adults can be off work for weeks.
- Registered Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre
- GPhC premises 9011598
Recommendations depend on your itinerary, health history and current guidance.
NaTHNaC Registered Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre
A Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre on the NaTHNaC register, and the same travel clinic that gives your other vaccinations.
GPhC registered premises
9011598
Private and NHS pharmacy services from one registered pharmacy in Ewell, Epsom.
In short
Miles Pharmacy in Epsom gives the hepatitis A vaccine for £160, two doses six to twelve months apart. One dose covers you for about a year, the second gives up to 25 years. There's no minimum notice, so a dose the day before you fly is still worth having.
- Price
- £80 a dose, course of 2
Who it is for
Who needs the hepatitis A vaccine for travel
Vaccination is recommended for most travellers to countries where hepatitis A is common. In lower-risk countries it comes down to your plans, your work and your health.
- Higher-prevalence regions
- South Asia, sub-Saharan and North Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and most of the Far East apart from Japan. Vaccination is recommended for most unvaccinated travellers going to these areas.
- Staying with family or local people
- People visiting friends and relatives are consistently among the highest-risk travellers, partly because trips are longer and partly because you eat where people live rather than where tourists eat.
- Long or frequent trips
- Anywhere sanitation and food hygiene may be unreliable, particularly if you're going back regularly.
- Hotel and resort stays too
- Good accommodation lowers the odds but doesn't remove them. Outbreaks have been traced to travellers staying in high-quality hotels.
- Outbreak areas
- Travel to an area with a current hepatitis A outbreak, with limited access to clean water or medical care.
Not only travel
The reasons that have nothing to do with travel
UK guidance recommends hepatitis A vaccination for several groups regardless of travel. Some of these can get it free through the NHS or an employer, and we'll say so rather than take your money for something you're entitled to.
- Chronic liver disease
- Including hepatitis B or C. Hepatitis A doesn't become a long-term infection, but it's more likely to cause severe illness if your liver is already under strain. This is usually available on the NHS.
- Haemophilia and clotting factor treatment
- Recommended for people receiving plasma-derived clotting factor concentrates. Usually available on the NHS.
- Men who have sex with men
- Outbreaks have occurred in the UK and across Europe, and the virus can pass through oral-anal contact. Sexual health services often provide this free.
- People who inject drugs
- Transmission happens through unhygienic injecting and shared equipment, and UK outbreaks have followed that route. Drug services often provide it.
- Sewage and waste water workers
- Occupational exposure to untreated sewage. This is normally your employer's responsibility under occupational health.
- Laboratory staff working with the virus
- Direct occupational exposure. Again, usually arranged and paid for by the employer.
- Some care and residential settings
- Considered for staff where there's a higher chance of faecal contact, for example in some settings supporting people with learning disabilities.
- Food handlers
- Not a routine UK recommendation, though some employers ask for it as policy. Worth checking what your employer actually requires before you pay for it.
- Close contact of a confirmed case
- Post-exposure vaccination works, but only if it's prompt, and it's handled by NHS health protection teams rather than privately. If someone in your household has hepatitis A, contact your GP or 111 today rather than booking with us next week.
Work it out
Do you need the hepatitis A vaccine?
A few questions covering both travel and the non-travel reasons. It'll also tell you when you can get it free somewhere else.
This works out an answer in your browser. With JavaScript off, the sections below say the same thing in full: who it is recommended for on a trip, and the groups UK guidance covers whether or not you travel.
Call us on 020 8393 1000Your answer
Answer the questions and your result appears here. Nothing you tick is recorded or sent anywhere.
- Countries it can place
- 134
- Regions for most travellers
- 7
- Reasons other than travel
- 9
- Of those, somebody else pays
- 8
- Rules last checked
- 21 September 2026
This is a guide, not a clinical assessment. We confirm everything at your appointment, including whether you've had it before.
How it works
Two doses, and no rush on the second
- The course
- Two doses. The second comes six to twelve months after the first, and it's the one that gives you the long-term protection.
- How quickly it works
- Antibodies are detectable within two to four weeks, with most people protected within about two weeks of the first dose.
- How long it lasts
- One dose covers roughly 12 months. After the second dose, about 25 years, with a booster at 25 years for anyone still at risk.
- If you're late for the second dose
- It doesn't matter. There's no maximum interval and the course never needs restarting, whether you're six months late or five years late. A lot of people are told otherwise.
- Brands are interchangeable
- The single hepatitis A vaccines can be swapped, so a dose given elsewhere still counts. Combined hepatitis A and B courses are best completed with the same brand.
- Ages
- Licensed from 12 months of age, with paediatric versions for children up to 15 or 17 depending on the brand.
What it costs
Price
| Vaccine | What that covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hepatitis A | 2 doses, £80 each | £160 |
One price, paid when you book.
Work it out
When do my doses fall?
Put in the date of your first dose and this gives you the window for the second, plus what you're protected for in the meantime.
This works out dates in your browser. The section above says the same thing: the second dose comes six to twelve months after the first, and the course never restarts however late it is.
Call us on 020 8393 1000Your answer
Put in a date and the window for your second dose appears here.
- I've had my first dose
- The six to twelve month window for dose two, and the date protection from dose one runs out
- I'm travelling on a date
- Confirmation that one dose before travel is enough, with the second dose window for when you're back
- My second dose is overdue
- Confirmation the course doesn't restart, and what having it now gives you
Dates follow the standard two-dose schedule. Combined hepatitis A and B courses run differently, and we'll map those out at your appointment.
Short notice
Travelling in a few days?
Hepatitis A is the one vaccine where leaving it late is genuinely fine.
Call us on 020 8393 1000There's no minimum notice. A dose given the day before you fly still produces protection while you're away, because the incubation period for hepatitis A is around a month.
Don't wait for the second dose. Go with one dose and get the second when you're back. That's a normal course, not a compromise.
Immunoglobulin isn't part of this anymore. Human normal immunoglobulin used to be given alongside the vaccine for imminent travel. Current UK guidance no longer recommends it for travel prophylaxis.
Food and water care still matters. No vaccine gives complete protection, and the same precautions guard against plenty of other things the vaccine doesn't touch.
Fewer injections
Hepatitis A with other vaccines
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Hepatitis A and B
If you need both, we give them as separate injections at the same appointment, one in each arm. Combined hepatitis A and B vaccines exist, but we don't use them here.
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Worth doing together when
You need both anyway, which is common for long stays, people visiting family, healthcare workers and anyone who might need medical or dental treatment abroad.
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Hepatitis A and typhoid
The combined hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines have both been discontinued in the UK. If you need both, they're given as separate injections at the same appointment.
Before you book
You might already be protected
- If you've had hepatitis A
- Immunity after infection is usually lifelong. Many people who grew up in high-prevalence countries had it as a child without ever knowing, because it's often silent in young children. Bring any records you have and we'll talk it through, including whether a blood test makes sense.
- If you've had the course before
- Two doses means you're covered for around 25 years. Bring any record you have, including one from another country, and we'll work out where you stand.
- Blood testing
- A blood test for hepatitis A antibodies can be considered for people likely to be immune already, for instance those who spent their childhood in a high-prevalence country. It's a conversation to have at the appointment rather than an automatic step.
Safety
Safety, side effects and who shouldn't have it
- Not suitable
- Anyone who has had a severe allergic reaction to a previous dose or to a vaccine component. Anyone with a current feverish illness should wait until they've recovered, though a cold is no reason to delay.
- Common side effects
- Soreness, redness or swelling where the injection went in, plus headache, tiredness or loss of appetite for a day or two. Mild fever and nausea are less common.
- Rare reactions
- Severe allergic reactions are rare, under 1 in 1,000, and we're set up to handle one.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- This is an inactivated vaccine, not a live one. It's generally considered safe where the risk of hepatitis A is real, and it's a risk and benefit conversation we'll have with you.
- Weakened immune system
- Safe to give, though the response may be weaker. Specific advice, including an earlier booster, may apply.
Your appointment
What the appointment involves
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Bring
Any vaccination records you have, including ones from abroad, a list of your medications and details of your trip.
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How long
About fifteen minutes, including the wait afterwards.
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Other vaccines at the same time
Hepatitis A can be given alongside the other travel vaccines. If typhoid or hepatitis B are on your list too, we'll do them in the same appointment.
Before you book
Questions about the hepatitis A vaccine
Answered by the pharmacist who signs this page off.
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£160 for the full two-dose course, or £80 per dose if you only need one now.
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One dose gives up to 12 months of protection. A full two-dose course provides long-lasting protection for up to 25 years. A booster at 25 years is recommended for anyone still at risk.
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There's no minimum. Protection develops within about two weeks and hepatitis A takes around a month to make you ill, so a dose the day before you fly is still worth having.
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No. There's no maximum gap and the course never needs restarting. Come in whenever, have the second dose, and you're covered for around 25 years from that point.
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Possibly. Good accommodation reduces the risk without removing it, and outbreaks have been traced to travellers in high-quality hotels. It's recommended for most unvaccinated travellers to higher-prevalence countries whatever the standard of the stay.
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Some people can. It's routinely available for groups including people with chronic liver disease, people with haemophilia, men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs, usually through a GP, sexual health service or drug service. If that's you, we'll tell you rather than charge you for it.
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Contact your GP or call 111 today. Vaccination after exposure can prevent illness, but it needs to be prompt, and close contacts are managed through NHS health protection routes rather than privately.
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If you've had hepatitis A, immunity is usually lifelong. Many people who grew up in countries where it's common had it as a child without knowing, since it's usually silent in young children. A blood test can be considered if that's likely to be you, and we'll talk it through at your appointment.
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Yes, as two separate injections at the same appointment. We don't use the combined hepatitis A and B vaccine here.
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At Miles Pharmacy, 94 Chessington Road, Ewell, Epsom, KT19 9UR. There's a bus stop outside on each side of the road, and Ewell West station, step-free to every platform, is nearby with a car park. Patients come to us from across Surrey, including Ewell, Ashtead, Leatherhead and Banstead, and from Sutton, Cheam, Surbiton and Kingston in south-west London.
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Yes, as two separate injections at the same appointment. The combined hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines have been discontinued in the UK.
Guides and advice
Guides on hepatitis A
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Hepatitis A
Which countries do you need the hepatitis A vaccine for?
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Hepatitis A
Flying soon? It’s not too late for the hepatitis A vaccine
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Hepatitis A
How long does the hepatitis A vaccine last?
Guides are a starting point, not a diagnosis. What is right for you depends on your health history, your medicines and what a pharmacist finds on the day.
Find the pharmacy
Where to come, and when
Miles Pharmacy is in Epsom, Surrey. Patients come to us from across Surrey, including Ewell, Ashtead, Leatherhead and Banstead, and from Sutton, Cheam, Surbiton and Kingston in south-west London.
Ewell, Epsom, Surrey KT19 9UR
How to get here Parking, trains, buses and step-free access
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The door is on Chessington Road, with step-free access
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The station car park, on Station Approach off Chessington Road
- Address Elizabeth Court, Station Approach, KT17 1DR
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Step-free to all platforms, by a footbridge with lifts
- Step-free to every platform (National Rail step-free category A)
- Lifts two, on the footbridge
Checked against nationalrail.co.uk
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Outside the pharmacy, with a stop on each side of Chessington Road
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Cycle parking at the station
Take this with you
Point your phone's camera at the code and this page opens there, with the directions one tap away.
Sources
- NaTHNaC hepatitis A factsheet. Checked .
- UKHSA Green Book chapter 17: hepatitis A. Checked .
- WHO position paper on hepatitis A vaccines. Checked .
Travel health
Book before you pack.
Choose a service and a date that suits you. One of us confirms it with you directly.
- Private and NHS
- GPhC premises 9011598
- Open until 6:30pm
Prefer to talk? 020 8393 1000