Chikungunya Vaccine: Which One You Can Get, and What It Costs

Two chikungunya vaccines reached travellers in 2025. One of them, Ixchiq, lost its US licence that August.¹ The other, Vimkunya, is now the only chikungunya vaccine the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists for travellers.²

Which one you can get depends on where you live and how old you are. This article sets out the rules in the US, the UK and the EU, and what a single dose costs in each.

The two vaccines at a glance

Sources: US Food and Drug Administration, CDC, UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, European Medicines Agency.¹²³⁴⁵

United States: one vaccine left

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended Ixchiq's licence on 22 August 2025.¹ It cited 21 hospitalisations and three deaths among reports of serious side effects. One death from brain inflammation was linked directly to the vaccine strain.¹ The FDA concluded the vaccine "does not have benefits outweighing risks, under most plausible scenarios."¹

Valneva, the maker, withdrew its US licence application in January 2026.⁶

That leaves Vimkunya. The CDC's guidance, updated in January 2026, lists it for people aged 12 and over.² It recommends the vaccine for travel to a country with a chikungunya outbreak. For long stays of six months or more in other risk areas, the CDC says it "may be considered".²

A dose costs about $369 at US pharmacies before discounts, according to the price site SingleCare.⁷ With its coupon, prices ran from $305 at Costco to $325 at Publix.⁷ These are drug prices only, and a clinic may charge for the visit.

UK and EU: Ixchiq stays, with limits

Europe drew a different line. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) reviewed Ixchiq's safety in July 2025. It lifted a temporary ban on vaccinating people aged 65 and over.⁴ But it said the vaccine should be used at any age only "when there is a significant risk of chikungunya infection".⁴ People with weakened immune systems must not receive it.⁴

The UK is stricter on age. Its Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) updated its advice in March 2026. Ixchiq may be offered to healthy adults aged 18 to 59.³ The committee advises against it from age 60, and calls that advice precautionary.³ Vimkunya may be offered from age 12.³ The EMA authorised Vimkunya for the same age group in February 2025.⁵

Neither vaccine is free on the NHS for travel. Boots launched its chikungunya service in November 2025, priced from £180.⁸ Germany's Bonn University Hospital lists €165.95 per injection in its travel clinic price list.⁹ Neither price list names the brand, so ask.

Where the outbreaks are

The Pan American Health Organization counted 196,429 chikungunya cases in the Americas in 2026 by 5 September. Most were in Brazil and Bolivia, according to a New York State Department of Health summary of its data.¹⁰ That summary lists CDC travel notices for Bolivia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Nicaragua and Suriname.¹⁰

Travellers bring the virus home. US states and territories reported 629 travel-associated cases in 2025, the most since 2015.¹⁰ That was more than two and a half times the 2024 count of 241.¹⁰ By 8 September 2026 there had been 105 more.¹⁰

Europe has local cases too. The UK's travel health service counted 162 locally acquired cases in mainland France by 15 October 2026.¹¹

What the headline numbers leave out

A price is not a course of care. The US prices above are for the syringe. The Bonn list prices consultations separately.⁹

Safety findings were concentrated in older adults. The EMA found that serious side effects with Ixchiq were reported mainly in people aged 65 and over and those with several health conditions.⁴ That is why the UK and EU rules turn on age.

Outbreak lists change. The CDC's recommendation depends on an outbreak at your destination.² Check the notices close to departure.

How to decide before you book

• Check your destination on the CDC or UK travel health outbreak pages within a month of travel.
• If you are 60 or older in the UK, ask for Vimkunya by name.
• In the US, call the pharmacy first. Ask whether it stocks Vimkunya and what it charges to give the injection.
• Book at least two weeks before you leave, as UK clinics advise.

For another travel vaccine with a split between public and private prices, see our yellow fever vaccine cost comparison.

Footnotes

1. https://www.fda.gov/safety/medical-product-safety-information/fda-update-safety-ixchiq-chikungunya-vaccine-live-fda-suspends-biologics-license-fda-safety — US Food and Drug Administration, "FDA Update on the Safety of Ixchiq (Chikungunya Vaccine, Live): FDA Suspends Biologics License" (published Aug 22, 2025). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. https://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/hcp/vaccines/index.html — US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Chikungunya Vaccine Information for Healthcare Providers" (updated Jan 23, 2026). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chikungunya-vaccine-for-uk-travellers-jcvi-advice-16-july-2025/chikungunya-vaccine-in-uk-travellers-jcvi-advice — Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, "Chikungunya vaccine in UK travellers: JCVI advice" (published Jul 16, 2025; updated Mar 17, 2026). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/ixchiq-temporary-restriction-vaccinating-people-65-years-older-be-lifted — European Medicines Agency, "Ixchiq: temporary restriction on vaccinating people 65 years and older to be lifted" (published Jul 11, 2025). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/vimkunya — European Medicines Agency, "Vimkunya: EPAR" (authorised Feb 28, 2025). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩²

6. https://valneva.com/press-release/valneva-provides-update-on-chikungunya-vaccine-ixchiq/ — Valneva SE, "Valneva Provides Update on Chikungunya Vaccine IXCHIQ" (published Jan 19, 2026). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩

7. https://www.singlecare.com/prescription/vimkunya — SingleCare, "Vimkunya coupons and prices". Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩²

8. https://www.boots-uk.com/newsroom/news-item/boots-adds-chikungunya-vaccination-to-its-travel-service-helping-protect-those-planning-to-travel-this-winter/ — Boots UK, "Boots adds chikungunya vaccination to its travel service" (published Nov 28, 2025). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩

9. https://www.ukbonn.de/site/assets/files/56106/2025_11_18_price_list_vaccines.pdf — Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, "Travel Medicine Consultation and Vaccinations Price List" (valid from Oct 1, 2025). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩²

10. https://globalhealthreports.health.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2026-09/Global%20Health%20Update%209.10.26%20-%20Final.pdf — New York State Department of Health, "Global Health Update" (published Sep 10, 2026), citing Pan American Health Organization data as of Sep 5, 2026. Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

11. https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/outbreaks — National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), "Outbreak Surveillance" (entry dated Oct 15, 2026). Accessed Oct 16, 2026. ↩

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