Airlines to pay US$3,500 fine for each unvaccinated passenger – KIA

Airlines which carry non-Ghanaian citizens without evidence of full vaccination at the point of embarkation at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) will be considered to have violated the newly updated COVID-19 guidelines in the country; thereby risking a fine of US$3,500 per a defaulting passenger, the Ghana Airport Company (GACL) has cautioned.

In its updated COVID-19 guidelines for travellers through KIA, the GACL in a statement said: “Non-Ghanaians at the point of embarkation must provide evidence of full vaccination status to the Airline prior to embarkation, as failure to do such comes with a penalty in monetary payment”.

Similarly, the GACL disclosed that all foreign nationals travelling to and through KIA with fake or forged vaccination certificates shall be quarantined and returned to their point of embarkation at the passenger’s own cost.

The statement however disclosed that both foreign residents in Ghana and Ghanaian passengers entering the country will only be required to provide evidence of vaccination at the point of embarkation and arrival at KIA if they are 18 years and above.

Fully vaccinated passengers will be exempted from pre-departure COVID-19 PCR testing at their point of embarkation, and such passengers will as well be exempted from testing upon arrival at KIA.

The new guidelines noted that: “Partially vaccinated and unvaccinated will be required to present a negative 48 hours PCR test result to the airline before embarkation and upon arrival at KIA”, adding, “partially vaccinated or unvaccinated passengers will undergo COVID-19 testing and vaccination at KIA upon arrival”.

Portions of the guidelines noted that all vaccinated passengers through KIA will be allowed for either arrival or departure only when they are vaccinated with approved vaccines registered by the Food and Drugs Authority and/or the World Health Organization (WHO).

Key vaccines listed by the GACL as approved in Ghana and duly recommended for all passengers include Sputnik V, Covishiled (Oxford/AstraZeneca), Janssen, Pfizer, Moderna’s

Spikevax, Vaxzevira and other WHO emergency listings such as COVAXIN, Vero Cells, COVOVAX and NUVAXOVID.

Recent updates on the COVID-19

Out of almost 600 million (599,825,400) confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of August 31, 2022 according to the WHO, 6.4 million people have been confirmed dead.

However, WHO has indicated that about 12.4 billion vaccine doses have been administered to date across the globe.

WHO continuously tasks countries and organisations to observe the protocols despite a recorded dwindling in cases.