Yellow Fever Exemption Certificates

[bernphotos]

Hi,

 

My wife and I are going on the Atlantic Coast of Africa cruise next month, Yellow Fever vaccinations are required but Saga will accept exemption certificates.

 

We've had the jabs before, many years ago and have lost the documentation, and in any case at our age we don't want to have them again. Does anybody know what form of certificates would be accepted by Saga when boarding, I can't find any information on their web site.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

[arlowood]

Culled from another post on this specific matter. The explanatory comment from the poster is also included below in parentheses

 

"The little yellow certificate booklet that they give you when you have the jab also has a specific page for those who have had a medical exemption, so the booklet has been completed and stamped on that page". 

 

However if you have lost the booklet you may be able to contact your GP and get them to issue a replacement as they should have your vaccination on record. Alternatively they may be willing to provide a letter sating that you are exempt. 

 

Maybe best to call Saga direct for their advice

 

 

[bernphotos]

Ok, thanks very much for your reply.

 

It would be interesting to know if Saga would accept a certificate like this, duly signed and stamped by a vaccination centre? (see attached)

But yes, the only way of knowing would be to contact Saga.

exemption-from-vaccination-sample.pdf

Edited January 11 by bernphotos

[Truro001]

Hi Bernphotos. We look forward to seeing you on board. We have just returned from our local vaccination centre where we had made appointments for our Yellow Fever jabs at a cost of £85 each. (Our local GP surgery will no longer vaccinate for Yellow Fever). Anyway, we were told on arrival at the vaccination centre that it was not advisable for persons aged over 60 to have the Yellow Fever vaccination because the side effects far outweigh the benefit of the vaccination itself. They therefore gave us each a vaccination exemption certificate at a cost of just £25 each. 

[bernphotos]

Thanks for the reply, that's very interesting.

 

We have been quoted £75 EACH for exemption certificates, so you've done well. If you don't mind me asking, what type of certificate was it?

 

I'm one of the speakers on the trip, come and say hello, you'll guess who I am from my username.

 

Edited January 11 by bernphotos

[Truro001]

Hi again. The certificate is a single A4 sheet of the Vaccination Centre's headed notepaper. The heading is "Yellow - Fever  Exemption from Vaccination". It simply states our names and the date of our trip (3rd Feb - 4th March). The certificate states " On Medical grounds, I advise that Yellow Fever vaccine should not be given to the above named person". It is signed by the supervising clinician and stamped with the official stamp of the vaccination centre. The Certificate is valid for the period of a single trip as per the dates above. Hope that helps. We had our first Yellow Fever vaccination nearly 50 years ago when the the certificates were valid for just 10 years. Now that the certificates are valid for life it would have made life much easier if we hadn't shredded those  old certificates so many moons ago.  I must admit that we now feel quite chuffed - no jab and £140 less than anticipated. Sounds like our £25 was a bargain. See you onboard. 

[bernphotos]

Thanks very much for the info, that's really helpful. So it seems that a letter on headed notepaper and a stamp will suffice and that you don't need the yellow certificate book that was mentioned and which I've seen on other sites.

 

See you on board.

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

May I suggest you all check very carefully with Saga as to what exactly is required. Get this wrong, and it could be no boarding.

[Kenmure]

Perhaps the Yellow Fever Story should be told from the beginning. 
About ten years ago we ere due to go on a Saga Cruise which included Gambia and Senegal. A few weeks before the trip commenced the countries were listed as being unable to visit due to Ebola and the visits were transferred to other destinations. Saga had warned us on booking that we required a Yellow Fever jab in order to enter the country. This we did and of course were disappointed that those visits were cancelled and said that if the opportunity arose again we would have another try.

Well it took 10 years but we are sailing on 3 February!.

We we’re rather surprised that Saga made no mention of Yellow Fever on booking and the only guidance given in the small print was to consult one’s doctor (somewhat difficult in our area). If you go on tne internet it says that the jabs or exemption certificates are not required only in some circumstances as to how and where one was coming from. This is slightly contentious if one applies it to a cruise ship.

We thought nothing of it until we received an email last Friday saying all passengers had to have some sort of documentation before visiting those countries and that would be checked on boarding.

 

 

 

Edited January 11 by Kenmure
No checking!

[Kenmure]

Sorry! I got cut off…..

What would happen if you had nothing to present?

It would seem that Saga has not done its homework on this one and a lot of fellow travellers are being put to a deal of inconvenience having to last make arrangements.

Edited January 11 by Kenmure
Grammar

[bernphotos]

Just now, Kenmure said:

Sorry! I got cut off…..

What would happen if you had nothing to present?

It would seem that Saga has not done its homework on this one and a lot of fellow travellers are being put to a deal of inconvenience having to last make arrangements.

 

Thanks, this is very useful.

 

>>we received an email last Friday saying all passengers had to have some sort of documentation before visitingthose countries and that would be checked on boarding.

Did the email say anything specific about particular types of documentation?

 

[Kenmure]

Copy or actual YF cert or a letter from doctor or healthcare professional. Either paper or electronic.

[bernphotos]

1 minute ago, Kenmure said:

Copy or actual YF cert or a letter from doctor or healthcare professional. Either paper or electronic.

Thanks, that’s good to know.

[arlowood]

Just to add to the initial reply I posted above.

 

My info came from a passenger travelling on a P&O cruise where ports in the Caribbean demand a yellow fever vaccination (or exemption) if the ship has called at certain Central or South American destinations.

There was a lot of back and forth contact between the passenger involved and P&O to establish exactly what documentation was needed (P&O were asking for a GP letter even though their FAQ's stated that the exemption certificate I posted the pic of was acceptable). The passenger involved actually obtained a GP letter (at a cost) but was not asked to produce it at boarding as the exemption certificate was accepted.

 

There was some suggestion that some passengers were denied boarding due to not having the correct documentation and had to fly out later to join the ship in Madeira.

 

For those reasons I would strongly suggest that you get written confirmation from Saga exactly what they require. Or more importantly it is what the immigration authorities in the Caribbean islands require as they will be the final arbiters of who can or cannot be cleared to land.

 

Edited January 11 by arlowood

[Truro001]

This is proving to be quite an informative thread.The confirmation of booking paperwork for this cruise specified the need for a yellow fever vaccination certificate. This was later confirmed by the e mail stating that on boarding we would be required to show either a vaccination certificate or an exemption letter. I did in fact check on various travel health websites and it seemed clear to me that if visiting Cape Verde, Senegal and Gambia a yellow fever vaccination was only required if coming from, or passing through, a country where there is a risk of yellow fever. The fact that we will be visiting all three of these yellow fever risk countries, one after the other, would suggest that Saga are quite correct in requiring passengers to either have the yellow fever vaccination or produce an exemption letter. There seems to be plenty of information on medical websites as to the possible risks associated with over 60s having the vaccination. The exemption letter we were given was specific to the yellow fever vaccination which would seem to indicate that the issue of such letters is relatively  common. It has been suggested by others on this thread that if still in doubt contact Saga for clarification. Personally, we are quite happy but if it helps put one’s mind at rest then it certainly makes sense to seek clarification from Saga. We did exactly this with regard to the need for visas on this cruise. The confirmation paperwork stated that Saga would arrange for my visa for Cape Verde but as my wife holds an Irish passport we would have to obtain that visa ourselves. I contacted the Cape Verde authorities and they told me that not only do Irish passport holders not need a visa to visit Cape Verde but British passport holders do not need visas either. I raised the matter with Saga who then contacted their agents in Cape Verde. I subsequently received confirmation that cruise ship passengers holding either a British or Irish passport do not require a visa when visiting Cape Verde.

 

[PeterZZ]

Truro001 thank you so much for the very helpful comments and advice. I was wondering if you could let me know which travel centre you went to which kindly provided the 'Yellow - Fever  Exemption from Vaccination' form. Thank you.

[Truro001]

15 hours ago, PeterZZ said:

Truro001 thank you so much for the very helpful comments and advice. I was wondering if you could let me know which travel centre you went to which kindly provided the 'Yellow - Fever  Exemption from Vaccination' form. Thank you.

We were given Yellow Fever exemption certificates when we visited our local travel clinic at Reids which is an independent pharmacy in Truro. When checking in for our cruise the certificates were inspected and accepted without question. It appeared that many passengers on our cruise were also in possession of exemption certificates.

[PeterZZ]

Thanks very much for the kind reply..much appreciated.