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Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in Kent

Free on the NHS at any age, available here when you want it this week - and with measles back across Europe, the catch-up dose most missed travellers need.

Per dose
£40
Doses
2
Full course
£80
Call your nearest clinic about MMRSee prices
Ages
from 6 months for travel, earlier than the routine schedule
Protects for
life, after two doses
Come in
two weeks before you fly, and a month if you need both doses
We stock
MMRVaxPRO

Assessed individually

Who tends to need MMR

  • Anyone who missed a dose, or both, as a child - including a large cohort of adults born in the late 1980s and 1990s
  • Travel to Europe, where measles outbreaks have returned in several countries
  • Travel anywhere with ongoing measles transmission, which is most of the world
  • Infants from 6 months travelling to an outbreak area, ahead of their routine dose
  • Students and gap-year travellers heading into shared accommodation
  • Anyone who is unsure, because an extra dose does no harm

Measles is the reason, and it is not a mild illness

Measles is among the most contagious infections known. One case infects around fifteen unprotected people, the virus hangs in the air of a room for two hours after the infected person has left, and you are contagious for four days before the rash appears.

In roughly one case in fifteen it causes complications: pneumonia, middle ear infection, and in about one in a thousand an inflammation of the brain. It also strips existing immune memory, leaving people more vulnerable to other infections for years afterwards. Mumps and rubella are included in the same vaccine - mumps can cause deafness and meningitis, and rubella in pregnancy causes serious birth defects.

Why so many adults are short a dose

Two doses give lasting protection in around ninety-nine percent of people. One dose gives roughly ninety-three percent, which is good but leaves a gap.

A large group of UK adults - broadly those born between the late 1980s and the early 2000s - had one dose rather than two, or none, during the years when MMR uptake fell. Most have no idea. If you cannot positively account for two doses, the straightforward answer is to have one: there is no risk in an extra dose and no blood test needed first.

It is free on the NHS - and we will tell you that

MMR is available free from your GP at any age, for anyone who has missed a dose. We would be doing you a disservice not to say so on this page.

What we offer is timing. If you are flying in ten days and your surgery cannot see you for three weeks, or you want both doses a month apart around a fixed departure, we can do it now at the price published on our list. That is the whole of the difference, and it is your call.

A live vaccine, with the usual conditions

MMR is a live vaccine. It is not given in pregnancy, and pregnancy should be avoided for a month afterwards. It is not suitable where the immune system is significantly suppressed.

It can be given on the same day as other live vaccines, or otherwise four weeks apart. If your course includes yellow fever or dengue, the sequence matters and we will plan it with your travel dates in front of us.

Plan ahead

The course and its timing

First dose
At any age from 6 months for travel to an outbreak area.
Second dose
At least 4 weeks later, completing lifelong protection.
Infants under 12 months
An early travel dose does not replace the routine 12-month dose - both are still needed.
  • A dose given before 12 months does not count toward the routine two, so the normal schedule continues afterwards.
  • No blood test is needed first. An extra dose in someone already immune does no harm.
  • A live vaccine: not in pregnancy, and not where the immune system is suppressed.

What to expect

Common side effects

  • A sore arm for a day or two
  • A mild measles-like rash and a temperature about a week to ten days afterwards, which is not infectious
  • Mild salivary gland swelling around three weeks later in a small number of people

Side effects are usually mild and settle within a day or two. A reaction that worries you, or anything that is getting worse rather than better, is worth a call to the clinic that vaccinated you — or to 111 out of hours.

Common questions

MMR questions

  • I do not know whether I had MMR. What should I do?

    Have a dose. There is no harm in vaccinating someone who turns out to be immune, and no blood test is needed beforehand. If you want certainty rather than cover, your GP record is the place to look first.

  • Why pay here when the NHS gives it free?

    Only for timing. If your GP can fit you in before you fly, use them - we will say so. We are the answer when the dates do not work.

  • Is measles really a risk in Europe?

    Yes. Several European countries have had substantial outbreaks in recent years as vaccination coverage slipped, so a city break can carry more measles risk than a long-haul trip.

Worth reading next

  • Chickenpox (varicella)

    Varivax

    Not on the routine UK schedule, which is why plenty of adults have never had chickenpox - and it hits considerably harder after childhood.

    Full course £130

  • Diphtheria, tetanus and polio

    Revaxis

    Three diseases, one injection, ten years - and the booster most British travellers turn out to be overdue for without knowing it.

    Full course £50

  • Hepatitis A

    The single most commonly given travel vaccine in the UK: one dose covers your trip, and a second within a year takes you to around twenty-five years.

    Full course £120