When babies turn two months, in the review of that day, they usually put the first vaccines (I say usually, because as you know how to vaccinate children is not mandatory). Social security covers the administration of the most typical vaccines, by calling them in some way, or those they consider most important, such as hexavalent (tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis B, whooping cough, haemophilus influenzae B and polio) and that of Meningitis C.
In addition to these vaccines there are those that are usually called optional (although they are all optional), because they are only administered if the parents want to buy and administer the baby. These are pneumococcal vaccines, whose trade name is Prevent 13, that of the rotavirus, which we know as Rotateq and chicken pox, which is the Varivax.
All of them, as I say, are bought at the pharmacy and taken to the doctor where the nurse will put them to our baby. They are not economical, since they are between 67 and 78 euros per dose, sometimes up to four doses being necessary, unless you decide to buy them outside of Spain, in Andorra, for example, where they are cheaper, being able to buy online.
The pneumococcal vaccine, Prevenar 13, cheaper in Andorra
As many of you already know, the Principality of Andorra is governed by taxes different from ours. In fact, being there in between, between France and Spain, you can have items from both countries as appropriate, getting to sell, in their pharmacies, medicines from both France and Spain, always opting for the cheapest ones that, curiously, They are not usually those of Spanish origin.
AdvertisingWhat I mean by this is that In Andorra, the Prevenar 13 of French origin is normally sold, which is the same vaccine as the Spanish one but with the difference that both the box and the leaflet are in French and not in Spanish. The price also varies, because the Prevent 13, which is the pneumococcal vaccine that can cause otitis, pneumonia and meningitis, It costs € 77.91 in Spain and € 57.34 in France (and in Andorra).
From this I realized the first time a mother brought Prevenar 13 from France to the consultation, noting that the price was much lower. Here in Catalonia, which is relatively close to Andorra, it has always been frequent to travel to Andorra from time to time to take advantage of low prices, so if it has been done with sugar, tobacco and electronics, why not to do also with medications and vaccines?
If you are wondering why the price difference is due, tell them that Pfizer, when asked, told me the following:
The margins of the distribution channels that by law apply in our country are different from the French. Hence the price difference.
Come on, I stayed more or less the same. The distribution channels in Spain make the vaccine cost 20 euros more, great. In any case, knowing that there are cheaper, I recommend as a nurse, all mothers and fathers who want to vaccinate their children, to look at the prices of Andorra.
If you vaccinate your child with all doses (4 doses if the first is given before 7 months) you get to save € 82.28, which is not turkey mucus as things are today. Now, to this saving you have to subtract the shipping costs, which are around € 25-30 (then I talk more about it).
The Rotateq vaccine is cheaper in Andorra than in Spain
In full research about Prevenar 13 (which in the Czech Republic also does not exceed 60 euros, but in Germany it costs almost the same as in Spain), I kept looking at prices for the other two optional vaccines.
One of them is the Rotateq vaccine, which protects children from rotavirus virus, a virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, being the virus that most commonly causes severe diarrhea in children. In the United States he is to blame for some 55,000 hospital admissions and about 600,000 children die in poor countries every year because of him.
This means that It is a vaccine that should be in poor countries and not in developed countries, although the reality is that it is up here, in the northern hemisphere and not below, where it is most needed. But hey, this is already coming back to talk about how messy the world is, something that is not new to anyone, and neither is this specifically what I wanted to talk about.
The vaccine of Rotavirus costs € 69.5 each dose in Spain, with three doses to be administered before six months to perform a correct vaccination. The price in Andorra is € 59.5 per dose, saving some parents € 30 if they buy all three.
The Varivax vaccine is cheaper in Andorra than in Spain
The third “optional” vaccine, which only enters for social security when a child reaches 12 years without having passed chickenpox, is the so-called Varivax. If the parents want to administer it when the child is small, to prevent the disease from happening, two doses should be administered after 12 months, separated by about 4 to 8 weeks. This means that you have to buy two vaccines.
In Spain the Varivax is priced at € 67.91. In Andorra (hallucinates, neighbor) the price is € 41.94. Buying both parents saves no less than 51.94 euros.
Where to buy the cheap Prevenar, Rotateq and Varivax
Well, in any pharmacy in Andorra. As I imagine that most of you do not have Andorra close to your home, the only option left is to order them online. I have found two pharmacies that offer the online sales service, although there are certainly many more. The two that I have found are Farmacia De Lòria and Farmacia Pasteur.
As the shipping cost?
Vaccines have to keep the cold chain, that's why they must be sent by cold transport and therefore the shipping costs are relatively high.
There are several shipping options, but the most reasonable is the one that makes the package arrive the day after ordering vaccines before 1:30 p.m. it costs € 25. If it is better that you arrive before 10 hours, they amount to € 30.
It is very important, of course, that at the time of receiving the package there is someone at home, because if not the package ends up staying at the central office of the courier, where they can not ensure that it will be kept cold.
As advice, it is worthwhile to agree with other families to make a joint order. In this way the shipping costs are shared among all, the savings being even greater.
If I bought them all
Finally, I wanted to make a simulation of how much a couple would save if they decided to put all the vaccines to a baby, buying them in Spain and buying them in Andorra.
If you were given 4 doses of Prevenar 13, 3 doses of Rotateq and 2 doses of Varivax, a family would spend € 655.96 in Spain on all vaccines. The same family, buying them all in Andorra and adding € 25 of shipping costs would spend € 516.74, assuming a total savings of € 139.22.
The downside of the matter is that in order for it to work out you have to order them all at once and always have them in the fridge, making sure that it will never fail (the fridge).
Let everyone make accounts and decide. I don't buy in Media Markt, but "I'm not stupid."
UPGRADE:: The law expressly prohibits the purchase of medicines in other countries to benefit from the price, so everyone who values the best option.
