Where To Get A Flu Shot In Tokyo

I used to get a flu shot every year, but I've avoided them since moving to Tokyo. I had a great list of reasons:

1. I hate needles. What do you mean, that's not a good enough excuse?

2. National Insurance (which is awesome, by the way) doesn't cover flu shots! How infuriating! I'm scandalized, obviously I should give up now.

3. In Japan most of the flu shots offered seem to require two doses, rather than the single one I'm used to in the US. You're trying to tell me I not only have to get the courage up to get a shot twice, I also have to pay twice? Forget it!

The only problem is that this year I'm BFFs with a baby. And he puts everything in his mouth. Sometimes he even likes to put things in my mouth. I really didn't want him to give me the flu. And if I caught it and infected him, I'd feel even worse. So, it was time to find a solution - and luckily Raku did all the research for me.

Primary Care Tokyo in Shimokitazawa is THE place to get a flu shot. We all went and got them last Saturday and I can't say enough good things about the place.

Dr. Kurosu speaks English, is very kind, and gives nearly painless shots. He also offers the vaccine that only requires one dose, it only costs 3500 yen, and he doesn't charge any sort of new patient visit fees on top of that. I honestly couldn't believe that he did the whole consultation and administered the shots himself instead of having a nurse do it. I can't remember the last time I got a shot from an actual doctor. Oh, and it was incredibly fast. We spent more time filling out the one piece of paperwork than getting the shots, and they let us do that second which meant less time to panic! (I'm looking at you, Hep A vaccine that kept me waiting/panicking for over an hour.)

If you need a flu shot, or an English speaking doctor who accepts national insurance I highly highly recommend this place!

My baby BBF! (Isn't snapchat with babies amazing?!?)

Primary Care Tokyo - on the 3rd floor

It's easy to miss

Primary Care Tokyo
Hours: M-F 9:00-12:30, 2:30-6:00, Sat 9:00-12:30
Phone: 03-5432-7177
Location: 2-1-16 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo (3rd Floor, Urbanity Building)
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