Yellow fever vaccination required for traveling from Zambia to South Africa

The World Health Organization recently updated its recommendations for yellow fever immunization. Zambia was placed on a list of countries where there is low, or minimal risk of yellow fever. Most travelers do not need yellow fever immunization for their own protection. WHO recommends that "proof of yellow fever vaccination should not be required if traveling from one of these countries to another country with a vaccination entry requirement (unless that country requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from all arriving travelers."

However, any country can do as it pleases in terms of its own law or policy. WHO can only make recommendations. A number of countries, including South Africa, have chosen to leave Zambia on their lists.

Here is South Africa's official YF policy.

Bottom line is:

Effective October 1:

YF cert required of everyone older than 1 year who is arriving from, or has transited through, any country determined by WHO to be at risk of yellow fever transmission. This includes countries considered to have low risk (SaoTome and Principe, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia).

Transiting means any time spent in a layover, even if it was just an hour in an airport.

If you don't have a certificate, you will be refused entry.

If you have a certificate, but it is not yet valid, because it hasn't been 10 days since you got the shot, you will be quarantined until the cert. is valid or until 6 days have passed.

If you have a medical exemption, you will be
- allowed entry
- required to report any fever or other symptoms to the health authorities
- be placed under surveillance.

"....she was told at the clinic where she got her other shots that she does not need a yellow fever vaccination for Zambia...."

Apparently she was told correctly: you don't need a yellow fever card to enter Zambia. You need it to enter South Africa (if you've been to Zambia). A compelling reason to either do your own research carefully instead of relying on others to do it for you....or to just get the shot and stop worrying about it for the next ten years.

Sound like her choices are pretty clear.

Mark

We have had guests caught out with this issue as it was only introduced a couple of weeks ago.... They have been refused boarding on their flight from Lusaka back to Johannesburg as they didn't have the certificate or a waiver... the airlines won't take a chance on letting you board if there is a chance they will have to bring you back because you don't meet the entry criteria.

I'd make sure that she gets the vaccination - or at least gets a valid waiver certificate if she can't have it for some reason.

I travelled to South Africa having been in Zambia recently (left J burg on the 4th Oct) although I had the vaccination and cert I was not asked for it. However, I was told that they are preparing to bring this in from October and my guide had to get the shot to continue his role. Maybe you could plan a different travel route i your girlfriend really doesnt want the shot. The last thing you want is to find yourselves stuck somewhere, having to get the vaccine locally (far worse than getting before you leave) and to have to hold up your travel plans while you wait for the 10 days to be up. If I was her - I'd just get it - I had no side effects and I am now covered if we decide to go to other countries that need the vaccine.

I'm going to be traveling from Australia to Jo'burg to Livingstone in Zambia (overnighting in Jo'burg), then back from Zambia to South Africa.

Do you think it would be better if I can change my ticket to go to Zambia AFTER I visit South Africa, to not worry about yellow fever?

Either way, though, my flight home is from Zambia to connect only in South Africa to a flight to London. In that case, will I be denied entry even if I'm only in transit?

Thanks

Reports are that SA is enforcing the rule for transit.

I have been told that if you are not vaccinated against yellow fever and you are flying from Zambia to South Africa SAA will not allow you to board their aircraft.

My girlfriend finally agreed to get the YF shot. However, she did not manage to get it early enough to actually have a valid YF vaccination. You are actually considered as vaccinated against YF after a ten days period has passed. We flew from Lusaka to Johannesburg 9 days after she got vaccinated. At Lusaka airport the South African airline staff asked for the YF card. She showed to her and the lady looked at it and gave it back to her. Therefore, I assume that she was probably more interested in seeing the card then actually calculating if it is already valid.
Before we were asked to show it we were asked if we will connect in Johannesburg. I replied that we will connect the next day to Mozambique. Since that meant that we would stay in Johannesburg for one night she asked us for the YF card. Therefore, I would assume that it must make a difference if you will stay there or connect.
Therefore, my advice is get the damn shot no matter how soon you fly and never point any short comings out. Leave the thinking to them.

It appears that my family is about to be illogically ensnared by these yellow fever rules.

We're flying to JNB from the USA and then immediately connecting on to Victoria Falls. Unfortunately, I have booked tickets to fly to the Zambian side (Livingstone). After a few days, we are flying back from the Zimbabwe side to JNB and then will tour South Africa.

I did it this way to save on visa fees, but now I have the nasty surprise of getting a Zambian passport stamp -- and the subsequent requirement by South Africa that all Zambian visitors need yellow fever cards to enter South Africa! Since we will need to get the shots before leaving the USA, I understand the cost of getting my family of 5 vaccinated is about $600.

This obviously sucks, since it's preposterous that I would medically need a yellow fever vaccination to visit one side of town but not the other. It also seems somewhat unlikely that anyone would question me at the JNB airport since I'll be flying back from Zimbabwe. But I guess if they wanted to be strict, they could try to trap some day trippers who crossed the border. If we were stopped and quarantined, this would essentially ruin our South African vacation. It seems like the risk of getting stopped at JNB is relatively low (they'd have to start looking through our passport stamps), but definitely above zero.

Any workaround? Or do I just need to pay a lot of money for shots we don't need to satisfy an unlikely-to-be-enforced bureaucratic requirement?