Nigeria phases out old yellow card July 1st, replaces it with electronic version

The Federal Government has announced its plan to phase out all old versions of Yellow card, as a new e-Yellow card has been put in place to take effect from July 1st, 2019.

Making the announcement in his office, in Abuja, Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health,  revealed that the new Card has enhanced security features that could be verified anywhere in the world by scanning the bar code or checking the card number on the Yellow Card portal.

According to a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by Boade Akinola, the Director, Media and Public Relations, in the ministry, the introduction of the new e- Yellow Card, otherwise known as International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), is to address the issue of fake Yellow cards which have hitherto constituted a source of national embarrassment.

Abdullahi stressed that with effect from July 1st 2019, the e- Yellow card would be the only valid documented proof of vaccination against yellow fever.

 Highlighting the importance of the yellow fever vaccine for which the yellow card is documented, he said that Yellow fever, a viral haemorrhagic fever, caused by a virus transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, is a potentially fatal illness but vaccine-preventable.

The Permanent Secretary noted that some countries, including Nigeria, were endemic for yellow fever and as such, travellers to affected (endemic) countries were at risk of exposure to infection by the yellow fever virus; hence, the mandatory vaccination against the disease.

 To this end, the Permanent Secretary said that according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO), recommendation, all international travellers, nine months of age and above, who were visiting Nigeria must be vaccinated against yellow fever.

 Also, additional measures have been adopted at points of entry for the prevention and control of yellow fever, which involves the mandatory requirement of evidence of vaccination against Yellow fever on arrival in Nigeria, Abdullahi added.

He however noted that some countries also require evidence of vaccination against yellow fever as a condition for entry. He stressed that from 1st July 2019, travellers arriving Nigeria without proof of Yellow Fever vaccination would be vaccinated with the yellow fever vaccine at points of entry and issued the Card, after payment.