Get Yellow Fever Vaccination 10 days before traveling to Uganda

Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate is a mandatory document at the entry point in Uganda. Here’s 3 needed information for you to obtain a Yellow Fever Card before applying for the Uganda visa.

1. What is Yellow Fever (YF) and the Yellow Fever Card?

Everyone must equip themselves with knowledge relating to YF symptoms in order to protect their family and themselves in any journey and contact with the nearest health care center in emergency case.

Yellow Fever (YF)

The fever is a disease caused by a virus that is spread to animals and people by the bite of an infected mosquito. It can be a normal syndrome or a serious murder depends on each body resistance.

For most cases, the initial syndromes including fever, chills, severe headache, back pain, general body aches, nausea, fatigue, and loss of appetite will automatically relieve within 5 days. However, about 15% of people will have a short period of the day suffering no symptom then the higher fever comes back and may cause yellow skin and white eyes. If this occurs, the risk of bleeding and kidney problems will be increased. That is when the YF develops into a severe form and become an “invisible murder”.

Currently, there are no specific treatments for YF patients. So, YF vaccine is the only solution until now as the best prevention because it is able to attenuate the strain of this virus.

Yellow Fever Card (YF Card)

YF Card is a certificate that is imposed by many countries for protection against YF. Uganda is one of those nations. The Yellow Fever Vaccination is strictly carried out for two purposes:

• To protect travelers from the risk of exposing YF virus since Uganda is an African country, where “a risk of YF virus transmission is present” according to the list supplied by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, Uganda’s government declared many yellow fever outbreaks on 2016, 2017 and the latest one occurs in May, 2019.
• To prevent the infection from foreign countries into Uganda.

The YF Card sample that is strictly required for the process of your Uganda visa application

2. Who and when should tourists get YF vaccine before a trip to Uganda?

YF vaccine is highly recommended and safe for normal people aging from 9 months to 60 years. Please be noted if you have infants, pregnant women or older people being over 60 years old who intend to get a YF vaccine, you need to ask advice from healthcare providers since the vaccine is not completely safe for these conditions.

For most people, a single dose of YF vaccine provides life-long protection. It means you do not have to get one more dose for the rest of your life. However, for those who have a weak immune system, one more dose may be preferred.

More importantly, every vaccine requires a certain amount of time to activate and be valid. So does YF vaccine. You should be vaccinated at least 10 days before your travel. Therefore, be noted about the vaccination time to make sure that you are completely protected.

3. Tips for tourists coming to Uganda to prevent YF infection

Though the country is in a risk of YF infection, do not be too worry since we provide you with effective pocket-tips during the coming time in Uganda, a country which has a wide variety of ecosystems. Even when you are vaccinated, you still must be careful when you are in a strange environment.

• Eat and drink safely. Sticking to hotly-cooked food and drink can save you from different kinds of infection.
• Prevent bug (mosquito, tick, and flea) bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks, boots, and hats whenever being outside, especially in safari zone or forests. In addition, sleeping in a net bed is also a good choice if you go camping or sleeping in a window-free room.

• Using the appropriate insect repellent, please read the instructions carefully before applying it into your skin, especially children and pregnant women.

If you already own a YF Certificate, you can apply for the Uganda eVisa right now with our online portal. Just only 3 steps filling the information and carrying out payment, you will receive your Uganda visa completely via email at the soonest time (often within 48 hours).

In case you have not had a YF Certificate, at least you know its importance and do not hesitate to make an arrangement with doctors to be vaccinated as soon as possible (should be at least 10 days) before booking any flights.