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VZLN denied boarding on CCS-SJU-BGI without Yellow Fever certificate
A relative of mine who travels on a Venezuelan passport (with valid B-2 US Visa) was just denied boarding at CCS when she was planning to transit the USA on the way to BGI.
The AA ticket agent was sympathetic but said that Barbados immigration authorities require Yellow Fever vaccination certificates for passport holders of certain countries, including Venezuela. Apparently, there was some disease fallout after Hurricane Tomas last year, and it led the Barbadian Government to enforce this rule that had been on the books for a long time but rarely enforced. Indeed, the Venezuelan side of my family has traveled to Barbados several times a year since the 1950s and never has had any trouble until now. (admittedly, today was the first time since Hurricane Tomas that a Venezuelan passport holder had tried to travel to Barbados)
The AA agent said that it would be no problem if she were traveling only to the USA, but Barbados would not allow her to enter.
This thread might belong elsewhere, and if so, mods, feel free to move. But I just wanted to alert my fellow FTers who might travel with passports issued by Venezuela (and presumably other Yellow Fever countries in Central/South America) to travel with their proof of vaccination!
Thankfully, it was an award ticket, so we rescheduled, and if the cert cannot be obtained, we can redeposit the miles.
Barbados is also enforcing that passport holders of countries which require Barbados visas must obtain said visa beforehand as they will no longer be issued at BGI
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I got tripped up by a similar issue last week-- flying Colombia to the U.S. with an overnight in El Salvador on a U.S. passport. According to TIMATIC, El Salvador requires the yellow fever certificate for passengers leaving the airport who have been in Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and several other countries within the prior 10 days.
Required some creative problem solving on my part.
As the immigration policy is not airline specifi we are sending this to TravelBuzz as to be able to alert all fellow FTers not just those who fly American Airlines.
I managed to sweet-talk myself onto an aeroplane from Argentina through South Africa without the same Yellow Fever Certificate as mine was in storage in the UK at time.
It was definitely a wake-up for me to be more attentive to this sort of thing in the future.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ESpen36
The AA ticket agent was sympathetic but said that Barbados immigration authorities require Yellow Fever vaccination certificates for passport holders of certain countries, including Venezuela.
The requirement actually applies to all travellers, who have recently lived in/travelled to the designated areas, regardless of citizenship/nationality:
22MAR11 / 2030 UTC
Barbados (BB)
Vaccination against Yellow Fever required if arriving within 6
days after leaving or transiting countries with infected
areas.
Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Children under 1 year.
- Not required for those not leaving the airport in the
countries concerned.
- Transit passengers not leaving the airport.
CHECK [[TINEWS/N1]] - COTE D'IVOIRE: VISAS ISSUED IN PARIS,
FRANCE
22MAR11 / 2031 UTC
R40) Yellow Fever, Cholera and Plague
................................
INFECTED & ENDEMIC AREAS: YELLOW FEVER / CHOLERA / PLAGUE
"Infected Area" means:
a. a municipal, urban or county district where there is a case
of cholera or yellow fever that is neither an imported nor a
transferred case; or
b. such a district where activity of yellow fever virus is
found in vertebrates other than man.
Note: An infected area for cholera is no longer considered
infected if at least twice the incubation period of five days
has elapsed since the last case of the disease has died,
recovered, or been isolated.
Yellow Fever Endemic Areas are areas in which Aedes aegypti
(mosquito) or any other domiciliary vector of yellow fever is
present but is not obviously responsible for the maintenance
of the virus which persists among jungle animals over long
periods of time.
YELLOW FEVER: infected areas exist according to the World
Health Organisation in the following countries.
in Africa: Angola, Benin Rep., Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo
(Kinshasa), Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea
(Rep.), Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan.
in Central and South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Venezuela.
YELLOW FEVER: endemic areas exist according to the World
Health Organisation in the following countries.
in Africa: Angola, Benin Rep., Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Central African Rep., Chad, Congo (Brazzaville),
Congo (Kinshasa), Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia,
Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea (Rep.), Kenya,
Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, So Tom &
Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania,
Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda.
in Central and South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname,
Venezuela.
CHOLERA: infected areas exist according to the World Health
Organisation in the following countries (the appearance of a
country on the list does not mean that the entire country is
affected).
in Africa: Angola, Benin Rep., Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Cape Verde Is., Central African Rep., Chad, Comores,
Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Cote d'Ivoire,
Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea (Rep.), Kenya, Liberia,
Madagascar (Dem. Rep.), Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, So Tom & Principe, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo,
Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
in Asia: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (People's Rep.),
India, Iran, Iraq, Lao People's Dem. Rep., Myanmar, Nepal,
Philippines, Vietnam.
in Central and South America: Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela.
PLAGUE: infected areas exist according to the World Health
Organisation in the following countries.
in Africa: Congo (Kinshasa), Madagascar (Dem. Rep.), Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
in Asia: Vietnam.
in South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru.
INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATES OF VACCINATION
1. If vaccinations are required, the passenger has to contact
his family doctor or the proper authorities according to the
regulations which are in force in the country of departure.
2. Common order of vaccinations:
- yellow fever
- cholera
Having the two vaccinations performed will take about 20 days.
However the actual order of vaccination is very much a
personal decision of the physician concerned.
3. The International Certificates of Vaccination booklet,
which can be ordered from an air carrier, must be duly filled
in, signed by the vaccinator and stamped by the proper
authority.
4. The International Certificates of Vaccination, in addition
to being issued by country health administrations, are also
valid when originating from the health services of specialized
agencies of the United Nations, for example FAO, UNESCO, WHO,
etc. These certificates should, of course, be signed by the
vaccinator and carry the official stamp of the agency
concerned.
5. To be valid in international traffic, vaccination
certificates must be printed in English and French; a third
language may be added. The certificate must be fully and
correctly completed in English or French; completion in
another language in addition is not excluded. Loose
vaccination certificates should only be accepted if they are
in conformity with those in the booklet.
The International Certificate of Vaccination is an individual
certificate and should not be used collectively. Separate
certificates should be issued for minors.
Missing/invalid certificates.
Some airlines will accept passengers not holding valid
certificates of vaccination on the condition that the
passengers sign a "form of indemnity". This applies also to
passengers holding a medical attestation stating that a
vaccination is undesirable on medical grounds.
Validity of vaccination.
If the period of validity for a certain country differs from
the periods mentioned in the cholera or yellow fever
paragraph, the deviating period is mentioned on the page of
the country concerned. The day of vaccination is not counted
when defining at which date the validity of a vaccination
begins. Example: a primary cholera injection has taken place
on April 4. The sixth day thereafter, the certificate will be
valid, so April 10.
Sanitary charges.
Vaccinations performed and certificates issued at an airport
of arrival may not be subject to a charge. Under the
provisions of the International Health Regulations other
certificates issued on departure may be subject to a charge.
Transit passengers
If a country requires that passengers coming via a certain
area or country be vaccinated, this means that also those
passengers who do not leave the airport and/or continue their
journey by same aircraft in that area or country must be
vaccinated. However, many exceptions are listed on the country
sections.
CHOLERA
International Certificate of Vaccination or revaccination:
In the most recently issued International Certificate of
Vaccination, the World Health Organization did not include a
separate vaccination certificate against cholera. If
vaccination against cholera is performed it can be entered in
the space for other vaccinations. However, the booklets
containing the separate vaccination certificate against
cholera can still be used.
Measures by health authorities in case of non-compliance with
the health regulations:
Surveillance 5 days if not arriving from an infected area.
Quarantine (periods reckoned from day of departure) 5 days
(or: until certificate becomes valid whichever occurs first)
if arriving from an infected area.
Period of validity:
In case of primary vaccination: 6 months, beginning 6 days
after first injection. In case of revaccination within the 6
month period: 6 months, beginning on date of revaccination.
The old certificate has to be shown during the first 6 days
after revaccination.
Protection:
Some countries still require vaccination even though such a
requirement cannot be justified as a means of preventing
spread of the disease.
Cholera vaccination is not routinely recommended by the world
health organization. It does not give personal protection and
travellers should always pay careful attention to food and
water in
endemic countries. They should drink only treated or bottled
water, avoid uncooked vegetables and fruit, and pay attention
to personal hygiene.
However, for some countries, vaccination cholera could be
considered as a justified additional personal measure.
If a traveller should become ill with diarrhoea after
returning home the physician should be informed that the
traveller has visited a cholera-infected country so that a
rapid diagnosis may be made and treatment started.
PROTECTION: PLAGUE / HEPATITIS / POLIOMYELITIS
Plague: vaccination is not required by any country and is only
recommended for travellers under exceptional circumstances
e.g. people who will have frequent and regular contact with
wild rodents in areas where the disease is known to exist.
Hepatitis: viral Hepatitis A is common in most warm countries
and may be spread by food or drink. This is therefore another
good reason for exercising great care in ensuring that food
and drink are as safe as possible. Visitors to tropical areas
and developing countries, especially if going beyond normal
tourist routes, should consider having a safe and highly
effective inactivated (killed) vaccine. Two doses of vaccine
should be given. The first one 4 weeks before departure, if
possible. The second dose 6-12 months later. Such a schedule
is expected to provide at least 10 years' protection.
Hepatitis B is highly endemic in all of Africa, a larger part
of South America, eastern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean
area, Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific islands except
Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Hepatitis B may be
transmitted in a number of ways such as blood transfusion,
needle sharing, and sexual transmission. Hepatitis B vaccines
produced from plasma or by recombinant DNA technology are
available, safe and effective. The first two doses are usually
given one month apart, with the third dose 1-12 months later.
Immunization will provide protection for at least 10 years.
Poliomyelitis: Travellers to tropical and developing countries
are often at greater risk of exposure to poliomyelitis. All
persons should be adequately immunised against this disease
before leaving their own country.
YELLOW FEVER
Roles and Responsibilities of Health Authorities
Surveillance: none.
Quarantine (periods reckoned from day of departure): 6 days
(or until certificate becomes valid whichever occurs first) if
arriving from an infected area. For Bangladesh and Pakistan:
also if arriving from the whole endemic zones in Africa and
South America. Quarantine expenses are to be charged to the
passenger and shall not be borne by the airline concerned.
Period of validity:
In case of primary vaccination: 10 years beginning 10 days
after vaccination. In case of revaccination within the 10-year
period: 10 years beginning on date of revaccination. The old
certificate has to be shown during the first 10 days after
revaccination. All yellow fever vaccination certificates
irrespective of the date of issue must be considered valid for
ten years.
Protection:
Vaccination which is effective for at least ten years is
recommended for travel to infected areas in Africa and South
America. Some countries in Asia are very strict in their
requirements for yellow fever vaccination of travellers from
Africa and South America.
CHECK [[TINEWS/N1]] - COTE D'IVOIRE: VISAS ISSUED IN PARIS,
FRANCE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HKG_Flyer1
I got tripped up by a similar issue last week-- flying Colombia to the U.S. with an overnight in El Salvador on a U.S. passport. According to TIMATIC, El Salvador requires the yellow fever certificate for passengers leaving the airport who have been in Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and several other countries within the prior 10 days.
Required some creative problem solving on my part.
yeah similar thing. This was when I was doing Jetblue's All You Can Jet. had to get creative. Colombia to Costa Rica although I had 2 days in MCO before going to to C.R, IIRC there's a 10 day rule. Glad I didn't get caught.... whew. On my flight out of SJO, our plane got significantly delayed because we had to wait for a pax to reboard the plane she just got off..she did the same routing as me that day(BOG-MCO-SJO) got denied entry into Costa Rica...
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Thanks, KVS, for doing that research! Very interesting, and much appreciated. I know your time is valuable.
I now remember that there is a new line on the Barbados Immigration form that requires you to list all countries you have visited in the past X weeks/months (I don't remember the exact time frame it says).
