Most people with health insurance pay nothing out of pocket for recommended vaccines. Without insurance, a single vaccine dose ranges from about $29 to $200 depending on which shot you need, and administration fees can add $20 to $35 per injection on top of that. The total you’ll pay depends on your insurance status, your age, and which vaccines you’re getting.
What Insurance Covers
Under the Affordable Care Act, most private health plans must cover all vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at no cost to you. That means no copay, no coinsurance, and no deductible, as long as you go to an in-network provider. This applies to routine shots like flu, Tdap, HPV, hepatitis B, MMR, and the updated COVID-19 vaccine. The coverage extends to adults, children, and pregnant people.
Medicare Part D similarly covers all ACIP-recommended adult vaccines with no copay and no deductible. That includes the shingles shot, RSV vaccine, flu, COVID-19, whooping cough, and measles. If you have Original Medicare without Part D, you may still face out-of-pocket costs for vaccines other than flu and COVID-19, which Part B covers.
Cash Prices for Common Vaccines
If you’re paying out of pocket, here’s what specific vaccines cost at their private-sector list price, based on CDC pricing data:
- Flu shot (standard): About $59 at retail pharmacies like Walgreens. The high-dose version for adults 65 and older runs roughly $109.
- Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis): $49 to $50 per dose.
- MMR (measles, mumps, rubella): $95 to $98 per dose.
- Hepatitis B: $72 per dose for standard three-dose versions, or about $156 per dose for the newer two-dose option.
- COVID-19: $147 to $202 per dose depending on the manufacturer and formulation, based on 2025-2026 Medicare payment rates. Adult doses from Pfizer run about $168, while Moderna’s standard adult dose is around $162.
These are the vaccine prices alone. Most clinics and pharmacies also charge an administration fee for actually giving you the shot, typically $20 to $35 per injection. So a $50 Tdap shot could end up costing you $70 to $85 total when you’re paying cash.
Travel Vaccines
Insurance generally does not cover vaccines required for international travel. Yellow fever, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, and cholera vaccines are usually self-pay. At travel clinics, these range from about $70 to $350 per vaccine. University Hospitals, for example, charges a $35 administration fee for the first shot and $20 for each additional one. If you need multiple travel vaccines before a trip, the total bill can easily reach $300 to $500.
Some travel clinics also charge a consultation fee on top of the vaccine and administration costs, so ask about pricing before your appointment.
Free Vaccines for Children
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides all ACIP-recommended vaccines at no cost for kids under 19 who meet any of these criteria:
- Uninsured: No health insurance of any kind.
- Medicaid-eligible or enrolled: Including children who qualify but haven’t formally enrolled.
- American Indian or Alaska Native.
- Underinsured: Insurance that doesn’t cover vaccines, only covers some vaccines, requires copays or deductibles for vaccines, or has a dollar cap on vaccine coverage.
Underinsured children can only receive VFC vaccines at federally qualified health centers or rural health clinics, not at private doctors’ offices. Children enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as a separate program from Medicaid do not qualify for VFC, since CHIP is considered insurance coverage.
Options for Uninsured Adults
Adults without insurance have fewer safety-net options than children, but they’re not entirely on their own. The federal Section 317 Immunization Program funds state and local health departments to provide vaccines to people who lack coverage or can’t afford them. What’s available varies significantly by state and by location. Some health departments offer free flu shots, COVID-19 vaccines, and other routine immunizations, while others have more limited supplies.
Your best starting point is calling your local or county health department and asking what publicly funded vaccines they offer. Community health centers (federally qualified health centers) also provide vaccines on a sliding fee scale based on income, meaning you pay what you can afford. Retail pharmacies occasionally run promotions or discounted vaccine events, particularly during flu season, but these aren’t reliable year-round.
Why Prices Vary So Much
The same vaccine can cost very different amounts depending on where you get it. A doctor’s office, urgent care clinic, retail pharmacy, and public health department may all charge different prices for the identical shot. This happens because the CDC negotiates lower contract prices for publicly purchased vaccines (used in programs like VFC), while private-sector prices are set by manufacturers and marked up by providers.
For example, the CDC’s contract price for a Tdap dose is about $29, while the private-sector list price is closer to $49. That gap exists across nearly every vaccine. If you’re paying cash, pharmacy chains tend to post their prices online, which makes comparison shopping easier than calling individual clinics. Health department clinics often offer the lowest prices for uninsured adults, since they purchase vaccines at federal contract rates.