No yellow fever, polio vaccination, no entry – Saudi Arabia

Anybody travelling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who has not been vaccinated against yellow fever and polio will be denied entry, the oil-rich nation has said.

A statement signed by Ghana’s Minister of Information said Ghanaians travelling to the Kingdom must provide appropriate documentation of international certificates on vaccinations.

It said: “Travellers to the Saudi Kingdom should have international certificates of vaccination against yellow fever, especially from countries with the persistent or periodic transmission of yellow fever since travellers without appropriate documentation of vaccination can be denied entry no matter the point of entry used – sea, land or air”.

The statement noted: “Residents and long-term visitors staying more than four months from states with wild poliovirus (WPV1) or circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV1 orcVDPV3) transmission of all ages entering the Kingdom should have received a dose of bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (bOPV) or inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) not less than four weeks before any international travel. Travellers going on urgent travels within four weeks and have not received the bOPV or IPV dose within the four weeks to 12 months should, at least, take the polio vaccine before departure”.

Further, the statement said: “Travellers departing from the Saudi Kingdom to states with WPV1, cVDPV1 or cVDPV3 and cVDPV2 transmissions should be advised to visit a travel clinic not less than four weeks before any international travel to update their vaccination status.”

For urgent travellers, the statement said such persons should, “within four weeks, take a dose of the vaccination by the time of departure”, and advised that “travellers check with appropriate embassies or consulates and know their entry requirements to countries they plan on travelling to either for work or visit.”