Intl passengers lament shortage of yellow fever cards

Some passengers embarking on international trips through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos have complained of nonavailability of International Certificate for Vaccination, otherwise known as yellow card.

The yellow card is a requirement for any international trip and is issued to prospective passengers after being certified free of yellow fever.

For two days running the scarcity of the card lingered amidst tension in passengers who were said to have met all the requirements but were not issued the card because it was not available.

Many intending passengers who were to be issued the card were seen at the headquarters of the Nigeria Port Health Services, located between international and domestic terminals of the Lagos airport yesterday morning.

It was learnt that some passengers who were to travel on Tuesday had to reschedule their trip to yesterday because of unavailability of the yellow card.

The Director, Port Health Services, Dr. Alex Okoh who confirmed the shortfall in supply of the card at the facility, explained that the gap in issuance was due to the procedures required before they were issued.

“It is not that we didn’t have yellow cards to issue but we have to follow the procedures for issuance. If you go back to the centre now you would notice that passengers have been issued with the cards,” Okoh explained.