C’ttee Charges Nigerians On Yellow Fever Vaccine

Prof Oyewale Tomori, the Chairman, Vaccine and Immunisation Advisory Committee (VIAC), on Monday urged Nigerians to go for yellow fever vaccine for protection instead of according priority to the card.

Tomori gave the advice in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.

He said that many Nigerians got yellow fever card only for the purpose of travelling abroad and other personal reasons without taking the vaccine.

According to him, the vaccine is more important than the card itself because it protects an individual from contracting the disease.

Tomori said that Nigeria was part of the yellow fever endemic areas in Africa and the world, which he said, called for precautionary measures to protect the masses.

“There is a new card which I am told will soon be coming out, but the point is, you know Nigerians, we want to cut the corners, even educated people will rather get the card than get the vaccine.

“But the truth is that, you are not protecting the card, it’s your life.

“If that epidemic comes to this country today, those of you who have been getting cards and didn’t get vaccines, you are number one candidates for infection.

“It’s for you and I to realise the importance of it. What do you lose by getting the vaccines except to protect your life?”

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, had on April 13 said that the current International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis (Yellow Card) would not be valid after October 10.

Chukwu made this known during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, where he said: “The National Council on Health approved and agreed that from October10, this year, the old yellow card which were printed by different governments, ministries and even the private sector, will cease to be valid.

“The only approved Yellow Card will be the one which we recently flagged off and it has about six security features.”

The minister said that the Federal Ministry of Health would be the only body printing the new yellow card.

According to him, the aim is to guarantee the authenticity of yellow cards carried by Nigerians as evidence of yellow fever immunisation.

This came against the backdrop of the row between South Africa and Nigeria in 2012 after some Nigerians were deported from South Africa on the claims that their yellow cards were not genuine.