Compulsory Yellow Fever Vaccination Not Connected to Coronavirus, Says NCAA

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has explained that the reinforcement of the directive that any traveller leaving the country must have yellow card document to show that he has been vaccinated against yellow fever, meningitis and others has nothing to do with the Coronavirus epidemic ravaging the world currently.

The General Manager, Public Affairs of the agency, Sam Adurogboye in a telephone interview with THISDAY, said it was a wrong impression for travellers to link the yellow card with Coronavirus, which scientists are yet to find a cure for, but noted that it is to indicate that the travellers have been vaccinated against other deadly diseases.

THISDAY also learnt that the Ministry of Health had issued a circular that yellow card must be a compulsory travel document and it is working in collaboration with NCAA to stem the spread of potential diseases like yellow fever and others that are vaccinated against for travellers.

Foreign airlines operating to the country have started full implementation of the policy by NCAA to make it compulsory that every traveller must have the yellow card and few days ago many Nigerians returning to the country from the UK were barred from boarding their flight without the card, thus leaving them stranded at the airport.

The challenge Nigerians living abroad are facing now is how to get vaccinated so that they would obtain the card.

Report indicates that yellow fever vaccine cost about £60 per dose in the UK and it describes yellow fever as a serious and potentially fatal viral disease that is spread by mosquitoes in tropical parts of Africa and South America. It occurs in both jungle and urban environments and is particularly common in the rainy season.

It is expected that the traveller would be vaccinated 10 days before embarking on his trip; the yellow fever vaccine lasts a lifetime and most people won’t need any boosters for future travel.

But Adurogboye told THISDAY that the policy had always been there and that it is not only Nigeria that made it compulsory; other countries do not admit foreign passengers into their country without the yellow card.

This in the past had caused diplomatic row between Nigeria and South Africa and Nigerians travelling to other countries have been embarrassed and some