The Nigerian government has announced plans to introduces a new yellow card for international travellers. The yellow card is an internationally recognised document to show an individual’s yellow fever vaccination history.
The introduction of an electronic version of the yellow card stemmed from the ubiquitous fake versions of the card that are notoriously being issued by by unauthorised personnel for years.
The new e-yellow card will replace the old yellow card with effect from the April 1, 2019. According to the health ministry, 1 August, 2018 marked the official expiration date for the use of the old yellow card.
The yellow card is an international certificate of vaccination or prophylaxis that shows that the holder has taken the yellow fever vaccine.
According to the federal ministry of health, registration for the e-yellow card is via the official website of the ministry with a fee of N2000.
After registration, the applicant takes the receipt of payment together with the international passport to any health port services office to get vaccinated so as to complete the process.
The health ministry added the card will be ready for collection within 1hr following vaccination. International travellers are required to get vaccinated at least 10 days before travelling.
“The card, which is machine readable and has the ability to store vaccination history of the holder, was designed to put an end to the era of fake yellow card issued by unauthorised personnel for years.”the health ministry stated
It added that the card has increasingly become an essential travel document with several embassies making it a prerequisite for visa application.