How to Get a Yellow Card in Nigeria

It is yellow, it is a card, it will allow you continuous passage and it is NOT handed out by an umpire - sorry, football fans. The Yellow card, also known as Carte Jaune is the International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis. It is a certificate that is required before you're granted entry into certain countries. While many countries in the world require that visitors and tourists take different vaccinations before entry – such as cholera vaccinations required in the US, yellow fever vaccinations are the only internationally mandated vaccinations recognized by WHO.

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Where to get the Yellow Card

You can only get the Yellow Card after you have undergone a yellow fever vaccination. Depending on your country, this vaccination can only be gotten at specific hospitals and clinics. Also, you could get it at the CDC, WHO, UNICEF or UNESCO clinics. Wherever the centre you are receiving your vaccination at, it would be wise to ensure that it is verified by the WHO.

After the vaccine is given, the certificate is filled out with the full name of the receiver (Traveller) and country of origin, alongside other fields such as physician’s name, date of shot, hospital etc. These details need to be verified before you would be allowed entry into some countries.

The details on the Card come the continent's lingua franca in bilingual (English-French) and trilingual (English-French-Arabic) for those issued by the WHO, though depending on the country of origin, it can also come in a variety of other languages. Find out about the country you are visiting to know what language to have your Yellow Card certificate in.

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When do you need the Yellow Card?

If you are visiting a country which has zones endemic to yellow fever, it is wise to a shot of the vaccine before going there to avoid contracting the disease. Also, if you are visiting any country in the world from a zone where yellow fever is endemic, it is wise to get a shot to ensure you do not transmit the disease to anyone.

Reasons for taking the yellow fever vaccine include: to protect you as a traveler from getting infected by the host community - if you are traveling to an endemic zone, and also to protect the broader community from contracting yellow fever through you - if you're coming from an endemic zone. Some countries, such as South Africa have eliminated yellow fever but still have the mosquitoes which can aid in the transmission of the disease. Thus it is necessary to get a vaccination before visiting such countries.

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The yellow fever vaccine should be taken at least 10 days before you travel so that your card is still valid. The card is valid for only 10 years. If you would continue visiting or living within yellow fever endemic zones, then it is necessary to get booster shots every 10 years, upon which you would be given a new Yellow Card.

You should keep your Yellow Card with you at all times. Ideally, it is advisable to keep it in your International passport as it is a sort of medical passport on its own. Visit a government hospital in your region today and get a Yellow Fever vaccination.

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