Rabies vaccine in Belgium: price, doses, after a bite

11 October 2026 · 16 min read

emmunity editorial teamHow we verify our information →

In Belgium, preventive vaccination against rabies is two doses at least seven days apart, according to CBIP/BCFI and Wanda. Each dose costs 65,30 € at the pharmacy in the CBIP/BCFI Repertoire, consulted on 10 October 2026, and the vaccine is listed there as reimbursed in category b: the co-payment is 12,80 €, or 8,50 € with increased reimbursement.

This vaccine never removes the need to act after a bite, a scratch or a lick on a mucous membrane or on a wound: every source reviewed asks you to wash the wound thoroughly for 15 minutes with soap and water, disinfect it and see a doctor as soon as possible, even if vaccinated. Here is what the official Belgian sources say, and what they do not say.

Key takeaways

Before a trip: two doses, on day 0 and day 7 according to the Superior Health Council and at least 7 days apart according to CBIP/BCFI and Wanda; three doses when immunity is weakened.
Public price at CBIP/BCFI, consulted on 10 October 2026: 65,30 € a dose, with a co-payment of 12,80 €, or 8,50 € with increased reimbursement, which your pharmacy confirms at the counter.
According to the CBIP listing, travel-medicine vaccines are not reimbursed, except the rabies vaccine, in category b.
After a bite, a scratch or a lick on a mucous membrane or on a wound, Wanda asks you to wash the wound thoroughly for 15 minutes with soap and water, then disinfect it thoroughly and see a doctor as soon as possible, even if you have been vaccinated.
Whether your trip justifies this vaccine is a question for a travel consultation, with your GP or at a travel clinic.

A trip coming up?Check the vaccines for your destination →

Who should consider the rabies vaccine before travelling?

Wanda points preventive vaccination at two profiles: people travelling to a country where rabies is present in dogs, which Wanda notes on the relevant country page, and people who are regularly in contact with bats. Its page links to a risk score to help with the decision.

In its version for doctors, Wanda names the factors that weigh in a country with dog rabies: a long stay or frequent stays, remote areas without medical help within reach, risky activities such as cycling, jogging or visiting a monkey park, and also children and adolescents.

The highest risk for travellers lies, according to Wanda, in the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia, Africa and parts of Latin America. Incidents mostly involve dogs, cats and monkeys. Wanda advises staying away from mammals, never touching an animal, even a dead one, and not petting or feeding it.

The Superior Health Council (Avis 9499, fiche of February 2019) lists for its part the groups for whom preventive vaccination is indicated.

People staying for a long period in a high-risk region or in isolated regions without quick access to medical help.
People who travel frequently to endemic regions, or will do so.
Travellers on a long cycling trip or who jog in endemic areas.
Travellers to specific high-risk places: the fiche names Monkey Forest and Monkey Beach.
Children going to live in endemic areas with their parents.
People at increased risk through their profession or activities, such as vets, foresters, veterinary students or bat-protection volunteers.
Military personnel on mission in endemic areas.
Laboratory staff and experts in professional contact with the virus.

Rabies is in neither Community’s basic vaccination schedule. Flanders says so on its rabies page, where it advises preventive vaccination at high risk, and the vaccine is absent from the basic-schedule tables of CBIP/BCFI. So there is no free circuit, neither in Flanders nor in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

This guide does not say whether your trip justifies the vaccine: that is decided with you at the travel consultation, with your GP or at a travel clinic.

Source : Wanda: preventive rabies vaccination ↗Wanda for doctors: rabies ↗Tool: which vaccines for your destination ↗Travel vaccines when leaving from Belgium ↗

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Rabies vaccine for travel: how many doses, and how long does it protect?

2 doses

Standard schedule, day 0 and day 7 (Superior Health Council)

7 days

Minimum interval between the two injections (CBIP/BCFI)

3 doses

When immunity is weakened (Council, CBIP/BCFI, Wanda)

Two visits, on day 0 and day 7: that is the standard schedule in the Superior Health Council fiche (Avis 9499). CBIP/BCFI speaks of two intramuscular injections at least 7 days apart, Wanda of two doses with an interval of at least one week. The Council’s fiche adds that the schedule went from three visits to two on 1 May 2018, following the WHO guideline.

The second visit may be postponed by a few days or a few weeks, according to the Council. The guideline of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) regards the schedule as complete after the second injection, even if it is given much later than day 7.

On duration, the Council writes that no further booster is needed before a later trip for tourists and expatriates who had the complete two-visit schedule. Wanda for doctors considers immunological memory lifelong after two doses. After an exposure, booster vaccines remain necessary: the Council advises noting this on the vaccination card. An antibody check is provided for only in people with weakened immunity.

Two vaccines are on the Belgian market, Rabipur (Bavarian Nordic) and Verorab (Sanofi Belgium). CBIP/BCFI describes them as interchangeable, and Wanda specifies that this holds within the same schedule.

Situation	Number of doses	What the sources say
Standard schedule	2 doses	Two visits on day 0 and day 7 (Council); at least 7 days apart (CBIP/BCFI, Wanda).
Last-minute departure	1 dose before leaving, the 2nd later	Second dose after return or at departure for the next trip (Council, Wanda for doctors).
Weakened immunity	3 intramuscular doses	The day of the third dose differs between official pages: the centre following you sets the dates.
Children	Same dose as adults	At any age (Wanda for doctors).

The last-minute schedule has one precise consequence: until the second dose is given, a person who is exposed is managed as an unvaccinated person, according to Wanda for doctors.

CBIP/BCFI recalls that preventive vaccination does not guarantee complete protection. It primes immunity, it does not replace the care after a bite, a scratch or a lick on a mucous membrane or on a wound, described further down.

The last-minute schedule has one precise consequence: until the second dose is given, a person who is exposed is managed as an unvaccinated person, according to Wanda for doctors.

Source : CBIP/BCFI: Repertoire, rabies vaccine (FR) ↗Wanda for doctors: rabies ↗

Rabies vaccine price in Belgium: what does it cost for an adult?

65,30 €

Public price per dose (CBIP/BCFI, 10 October 2026)

12,80 €

Co-payment per dose, ordinary rate (CBIP/BCFI)

8,50 €

Co-payment per dose, increased reimbursement (CBIP/BCFI)

130,60 €

Two doses at public price, calculated from the listed price

The CBIP/BCFI Repertoire, consulted on 10 October 2026, shows the same public price for both vaccines: 65,30 € per pack, and one pack is one intramuscular dose. Both carry category b, with a co-payment of 12,80 € at the ordinary rate and 8,50 € with increased reimbursement, amounts that CBIP/BCFI attributes to INAMI/RIZIV.

CBIP/BCFI lists only one pack per vaccine, indicated at any age: according to Wanda for doctors, children receive the same dose as adults.

No source publishes the cost of a full course. The totals in the table are calculated by us from the listed price, on 10 October 2026, assuming the category b reimbursement applies to each pack. No official source confirms that point: your pharmacy will give you the real amount at the counter.

Product or schedule	Public price	Co-payment	With increased reimbursement	Origin of the figure
Rabipur (Bavarian Nordic), 1 dose	65,30 €	12,80 €	8,50 €	CBIP/BCFI, consulted on 10 October 2026
Verorab (Sanofi Belgium), 1 dose	65,30 €	12,80 €	8,50 €	CBIP/BCFI, consulted on 10 October 2026
Standard schedule, 2 doses	130,60 €	25,60 €	17,00 €	Calculated from the listed price, 10 October 2026
Weakened immunity, 3 doses	195,90 €	38,40 €	25,50 €	Calculated from the listed price, 10 October 2026

Public prices taken from the CBIP/BCFI Repertoire on 10 October 2026, in the public pharmacy circuit; hospital prices were not read. These amounts change: when Verorab arrived in November 2024, CBIP/BCFI announced 64,88 € for one injection. Your pharmacy confirms the amount at the counter.

Consultation and injection fees come on top and are published nowhere. The Institute of Tropical Medicine publishes no itemised tariff: its FAQ, undated, mentions a total of approximately 50 to 150 € for vaccinations and consultation together, whatever the vaccines, part of which is reimbursed by the health insurance fund. It adds that follow-up consultations for multi-dose vaccines, rabies included, are not charged.

Source : CBIP/BCFI: Repertoire, rabies vaccine (price, FR) ↗ITM: clinic FAQ ↗Vaccine prices in Belgium: the full table ↗

Is the rabies vaccine reimbursed?

Yes, according to the CBIP listing. Its entry on INAMI reimbursement, situation on 1 February 2026, states that the rabies vaccine is reimbursed in category b. CBIP/BCFI adds, in its general rule, that vaccines used in travel medicine are not reimbursed, except the rabies vaccine.

The Rabipur and Verorab packs carry a plain “b” at CBIP/BCFI: no Chapter IV paragraph, no a priori control, no conditions page. INAMI/RIZIV defines category B as the one for therapeutically important pharmaceutical specialities.

One reservation: the INAMI/RIZIV search application could not be opened on 10 October 2026. The reimbursement described here therefore rests on CBIP/BCFI data, which CBIP/BCFI attributes to INAMI/RIZIV. No source read says whether a limit applies depending on the reason: travel, work or care after an exposure. For that last case, the Council’s 2019 fiche states that the vaccine reimbursement remains unchanged.

As for mutualities, vaccination-info.be reports that some grant a supplementary intervention, including for vaccines advised for travellers. No mutuality page opened gives an amount specific to rabies: the table shows their general ceilings.

Mutuality	What its page says	Worth knowing for rabies
Partenamut	Up to 35 € a year for all vaccines registered in Belgium, travel vaccines included, with no age condition.	The page names rabies among the vaccines partly covered by compulsory insurance. Applied automatically when compulsory insurance already intervenes.
Mutualité Libérale (ML MUTPLUS.be)	50 % of the price actually paid, maximum 30 € per calendar year, for all vaccines recognised in Belgium, travel vaccines included.	On a BVAC certificate or a vaccination-centre certificate.
Solidaris Wallonie	The page contradicts itself: 25 € a year for anti-infectious vaccines in its headline, up to 30 € a year per beneficiary in the detail.	BVAC certificate from the pharmacy, vaccine recognised by Solidaris. Have the ceiling confirmed.
Helan	NL and EN pages: maximum 25 € a year, for vaccines not reimbursed by the compulsory insurance. FR page: 100 % of the co-payment, capped at 25 € a year, but only for vaccines with no legal reimbursement.	All three versions exclude vaccines already reimbursed by the compulsory insurance, which is the case of the rabies vaccine according to the CBIP listing. Have it confirmed by Helan.
Mutualité Chrétienne (MC/CM), Vlaams & Neutraal Ziekenfonds	Pages not read on 10 October 2026.	Check their benefits page directly.

The mutuality pages are undated. Each amount is the one the mutuality displayed on 10 October 2026 and can differ by region and plan.

Source : CBIP/BCFI: Repertoire, vaccines and reimbursement (FR) ↗INAMI/RIZIV: reimbursement categories (FR) ↗Helan: reimbursement of vaccines ↗

Where to get the rabies vaccine, and how long before departure?

6 to 8 weeks

Lead time Wanda advises for the travel consultation

4 months

When immunity is weakened (Wanda)

7 days

Minimum between the two visits of the standard schedule

The route starts with a travel consultation, which Wanda places with the GP or at a travel clinic. The approved travel clinics are the centres authorised to give the yellow fever vaccine: without a yellow fever need, Wanda confirms that the GP is fine too, and Flanders says the same.

The vaccine is bought at the pharmacy on prescription. Pharmacists may prescribe and administer only the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, vaccination-info.be recalls: for rabies, the pharmacy sells the vaccine, and a doctor, or a nurse on a doctor’s prescription, injects it.

At the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, all travel vaccinations are available at the clinic, which charges for the consultation and the vaccines administered. The Council’s 2019 fiche states that the vaccine is available in travel centres or at the pharmacy.

No source gives an “x weeks before departure” figure specific to rabies. The standard schedule needs two visits at least 7 days apart, so at least a week. For the travel consultation in general, Wanda advises starting at least six to eight weeks before departure, and four months ahead when immunity is weakened. Flanders advises checking six weeks before.

Wanda also invites last-minute travellers to go to a consultation: some vaccines can still be given on the day of departure. For rabies, the last-minute schedule described above exists for that case, with its limit.

Where	What happens there
GP	Travel consultation, prescription, injection.
Pharmacy	Sale of the vaccine on prescription. No injection for this vaccine.
Travel clinic	Travel consultation. At ITM Antwerp, the vaccines are available and given on the spot.
Occupational physician	For work-related exposure, see further down.

Source : Wanda: travel clinics in Belgium (FR) ↗Wanda: travel consultation (FR) ↗ITM: pre-travel services and advice ↗Tool: which vaccines for your destination ↗

Bitten or scratched abroad: what to do, even if you are vaccinated?

Vaccination before departure never replaces the actions after a bite, a scratch or a lick on a mucous membrane or on a wound: according to Wanda, you must wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes, then disinfect it thoroughly with iodine or 60 to 80 % ethanol, and see a doctor as soon as possible, even if you have been vaccinated.

Wanda speaks of a “risk contact”: the saliva of an infected mammal passes on the virus through a bite or scratch wound, or by a lick on mucous membranes or on a wound. The Superior Health Council’s fiche also names the bite, the scratch and the lick on a mucous membrane, and asks you to consult a doctor urgently. Wanda for doctors adds that the wound is cleaned however small or superficial.

Wanda also recommends calling your travel assistance insurance to be directed to a reliable facility: vaccines and immunoglobulins are not always available in (sub)tropical countries, and an emergency repatriation is sometimes necessary.

The ITM public page on rabies, consulted on 11 October 2026, speaks to the traveller bitten by a dog, monkey, cat or bat: treatment should start as soon as possible. It asks you to contact, as soon as possible, ITM during office hours on +32 (0)3 247 66 66, or the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) on +32 (0)3 821 30 00.

Wash the wound thoroughly for 15 minutes, with soap and water

Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes.

Then disinfect it thoroughly

Then disinfect the wound thoroughly with iodine or 60 to 80 % ethanol.

See a doctor as soon as possible, even if vaccinated

See a doctor as soon as possible to decide on post-exposure prophylaxis, even if you have been vaccinated.

Call your travel assistance

Call your travel assistance insurance to find a reliable facility.

Your situation	What the sources provide	Source
Complete preventive schedule (at least two doses), normal immunity	Two booster vaccines, without immunoglobulins, after each risk exposure.	Wanda, Superior Health Council, ITM guideline (September 2026)
Only one dose received	Managed as an unvaccinated person.	Wanda for doctors
Not vaccinated	A series of four or five vaccines, and sometimes immunoglobulins.	Wanda
Weakened immunity, for example on immunosuppressive treatment (Council)	Five doses with immunoglobulins, vaccinated or not, according to the ITM guideline; four or five depending on the injury, according to Wanda. The centre treating you decides, immunoglobulins included.	ITM guideline (September 2026), Wanda

The exact days of these schedules are not identical from one official page to another: we give only the number of doses, and the centre treating you sets the dates.

Only the interval for a vaccinated person with normal immunity is the same everywhere: two intramuscular doses three days apart, according to Wanda, the Council and the ITM guideline. The Council and the ITM guideline also describe, for that same person, four intradermal injections of 0.1 ml in a single visit.

On timing, Wanda for doctors aims for vaccination within 24 hours. If that window has passed, the treatment should always be carried out, regardless of the timing. CBIP/BCFI specifies that there is no contraindication to this prophylaxis after a high-risk exposure, infants, pregnant women and people with weakened immunity included, and recalls that symptomatic rabies is always fatal.

In Belgium, immunoglobulins are available only from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, according to CBIP/BCFI. The ITM guideline specifies that they are administered at ITM Antwerp during working hours, and at the emergency department of the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) otherwise. It describes them as fully reimbursable since July 2017 (category A), with the signature of a physician attached to the ITM rabies reference centre.

In its 2026 version, the guideline reserves immunoglobulins exclusively for open bite wounds, because of limited availability: they are not given for a scratch or for contact with a bat without a visible lesion. This concerns immunoglobulins only, not vaccination: the instruction to see a doctor as soon as possible stays the same.

The vaccine without immunoglobulins can be given by any travel clinic or by the treating doctor, according to the Council.

Bats are a case apart: a scratch or possible bite from a bat is treated as high risk everywhere, Belgium included, according to Wanda for doctors. Wanda also asks you to see a doctor as soon as possible if you woke up in a room with a bat in it, because bites from bats often go unnoticed.

In Belgium, rabies occurs only in bats and, exceptionally, in (illegally) imported mammals, according to the ITM guideline.

Source : Wanda: rabies, actions after risk contact ↗ITM: rabies, who to contact in case of emergency ↗Wanda for doctors: rabies post-exposure prophylaxis ↗ITM: post-exposure prophylaxis guideline, September 2026 (PDF) ↗

Work-related exposure: who pays for the vaccine for vets and foresters?

The Council’s fiche counts among the groups to vaccinate the people exposed through their profession or activities: vets, foresters, veterinary students, bat-protection volunteers, military personnel on mission in endemic areas, laboratory staff in contact with the virus. Wanda’s risk score, designed for travellers, does not apply to people who handle animals or do laboratory work with the virus.

Fedris, the Federal Agency for Occupational Risks, can under certain conditions reimburse work-related vaccinations. Its official page gives the list: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, varicella and yellow fever. Rabies is not on it, and the Flemish page on vaccinations for work repeats the same list.

In the sources read, no payer is documented for professions exposed to rabies. The Council only states that other rules apply under occupational-medicine regulation. The CBIP listing shows no condition for category b, but no source says whether it holds for an occupational vaccination. Turn to your occupational health and prevention service.

Question	What the sources read say
Vaccinations listed by Fedris	Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, varicella, yellow fever.
Rabies	Not on the Fedris list.
Payer for exposed professions	No payer documented.
Who to turn to	Your occupational health and prevention service.

In the sources read, no payer is documented for professions exposed to rabies.

Source : Fedris: reimbursement of vaccinations (FR) ↗Departement Zorg: vaccinations for your work (NL) ↗

What the official sources do not say

These are the points for which we found no official answer on 10 October 2026. We would rather name them than fill them in.

No “x weeks before departure” figure specific to rabies.
No INAMI/RIZIV page could be opened for this vaccine: category b and the co-payments come from the CBIP listing.
No official confirmation that the reimbursement holds for each of the two or three doses of a course: our totals assume it.
No tariff for the consultation and the injection, and no ITM tariff for a rabies course or for care after an exposure.
No price for intradermal vaccination, which the Council’s fiche describes as an alternative and which CBIP/BCFI flags as off-label for Rabipur.
No current official information on possible stock shortages of the vaccine: the only remark is in the Council’s 2019 fiche.
The exact days of the three-dose schedule and of the five-dose schedule, which differ between official pages.
No mutuality amount specific to rabies.

For each of these points, the answer lies with your doctor, the travel clinic, your pharmacist or your mutuality.

Source : Travel vaccines when leaving from Belgium ↗Where to find your vaccination history in Belgium ↗

Frequently asked questions

I was bitten or scratched abroad and I am vaccinated: what should I do?

According to Wanda, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes, then disinfect it thoroughly with iodine or 60 to 80 % ethanol, and see a doctor as soon as possible, even if you have been vaccinated. The same applies after a lick on a mucous membrane or on a wound. Vaccination never replaces these actions: a vaccinated person with normal immunity still receives two booster vaccines after each risk exposure.

What is the price of the rabies vaccine in Belgium?

65,30 € a dose for Rabipur and for Verorab alike, according to the CBIP/BCFI Repertoire consulted on 10 October 2026, with a co-payment of 12,80 €, or 8,50 € with increased reimbursement. Two doses come to 130,60 € at public price, a figure calculated by us from the listed price. Your pharmacy confirms the amount at the counter.

Rabies vaccine before a trip: how many doses?

Two doses: on day 0 and day 7 according to the Superior Health Council, at least 7 days apart according to CBIP/BCFI and Wanda. When immunity is weakened, the schedule has three doses, and the centre following you sets the dates.

Is the rabies vaccine reimbursed by INAMI/RIZIV?

According to the CBIP listing (situation on 1 February 2026), yes, in category b, and it is the exception among travel-medicine vaccines. The INAMI/RIZIV application itself could not be opened on 10 October 2026: have it confirmed by your pharmacy or your mutuality.

How long before departure should you start?

No official source gives a figure specific to rabies. The standard schedule needs two visits at least 7 days apart, and Wanda advises a travel consultation at least six to eight weeks before departure, four months when immunity is weakened.

Does Fedris reimburse the rabies vaccine for exposed professions?

Rabies is not on the Fedris list of vaccinations, which covers hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, varicella and yellow fever. No payer is documented in the sources read: ask your occupational health and prevention service.