Just received word last week from my travel agent: Bolivia, in the wake of a
recently-diagnosed case of yellow fever, is updating its requirements for tourists entering the country. As of March 2nd, it seems that all foreign travellers will be required to present a certificate of vaccination against yellow fever.
In the past, the requirement seemed to only be in place if you were coming from an endemic country, and/or travelling to an at-risk area within Bolivia. And it seems like it was rarely enforced at air or land crossings. Now, as best as I can gather, it seems like it will be much more strictly enforced.
It seems unclear as to whether this applies to
all foreign tourists, or only those who visited elsewhere in South America prior to their trip. At any rate, I'll be visiting Peru and crossing by land, so I'd be affected either way.
This puts me in a bit of a tight spot. I don't have the vaccine, and I have travel to Bolivia booked (though not to any at-risk zones). And there's a worldwide vaccine shortage going on for several years now, and none of the clinics here in Canada have any supply, nor do they expect to get any between now and when I depart.
The Bolivian embassy in Ottawa didn't seem to have the updated information either; when I phoned on Friday, I was told I wouldn't have a problem as long as I wasn't planning to travel to any low-lying areas. But the employee I spoke to seemed a bit confused and wasn't willing to put anything in writing to that effect. And my travel agent is adamant that it will be a problem.
So... yeah. Not sure yet what I'm going to do. I'm loathe to cancel (can't get any costs back for this as it's not covered by insurance), but I may have no choice if I can't find anyone who has a supply of the vaccine in Canada.
Just thought I'd give anyone else the heads up, or see if anyone had heard anything further.