New Yellow Card: Officials Extort International Travellers
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) The Port Health Service (PHS) office at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) has become a beehive of activities as international passengers rushed to obtain the new certificate of vaccination which took effect from July 1.
The Federal Ministry of Health penultimate week issued a release notifying prospective travelers that the old Yellow Card would no longer be accepted by countries.
Daily Trust’s visit to the airport at the weekend indicated that many passengers visited the PHS office at Toll Gate along MMIA road as early as 5 AM to obtain the new card.
Some passengers however expressed frustration with the registration process which they said is too cumbersome.
It was learnt that people without the old card were expected to take the Yellow Fever injection 10 days before travel while those with the old card were only required to pay N2,000 to get the new card.
However some agents were collecting N3,100 from prospective travelers instead of the N2000. One of the travelers who identifies herself as Ifeoma said she paid N3,100 to obtain the card. “I came here as early as 7 am to get the card, I was told they charge N2000 but they collected N3,100 from me.
I still don’t know when the card would be ready. You can imagine if I am scheduled to travel today, I would have probably missed my flight,” the applicant said. Director of Port Health Service, Mrs. Morenike Alex Okoh however told Daily Trust the system “is actually designed to be seamless with the online registration and online payment.
We are doing our best to ensure that this is achieved. If the crowd can be orderly, that would be helpful.” She also warned applications not to patronize any agent or third party, saying, “We do not operate via agents or issue cards by proxy.”
The enhanced Yellow card effectively replaced the old Yellow card. Yellow Card is the proof of vaccination against yellow fever, which is a requirement for international travellers.
Many countries usually turn back passengers without the Yellow Card which is evidence of vaccination against the disease. Yellow fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever caused by a virus transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito and may cause fatal illness but it is a vaccine-preventable disease.
