Yellow Fever Waiver Letter

YF VACCINE WAIVER LETTER

We are Canadian and I just returned from our doctor. She has written a letter on her letterhead and signed it stating that due to Canada Health regulations that is not recommended for anyone over 60 to receive the YF vaccine. We are 74 & 84. Our question is has anyone from Canada presented a waiver letter to HAL. Having read many threads it has been stated that US passengers need this letter to be stamped as well. There is no reference in the Canadian website that we would need our letter stamped.

HAL's letter to us stated "guest must obtained a signed letter, on Doctor's letterhead stating their conclusion and the basis for it. Guest must have the original letter with them"

Please any Canadians let me know of your experiences

Ontario Cruiser

Veendam Mar 18th Rio to Fort Lauderdale

Here is some information from the Center for Disease Control's travel section--it is not just for US residents. CDC suggests contacting the country's consulate for information, etc.

Also, the website contains tips on how to reduce the risk of infection.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/yellow-fever.aspx

FROM THE CDC WEBSITE:

Exemption from Vaccination and Waiver Letters

• Some countries do not require an ICVP for infants younger than a certain age (e.g., <6 months, <9 months, or <1 year of age, depending on the country). Age requirements for vaccination for individual countries can be found in the Yellow Fever Vaccine Requirements and Recommendations section in this chapter.
  
• For medical contraindications, a physician who has decided to issue a waiver should fill out and sign the Medical Contraindications to Vaccination section of the ICVP (Figure 2-2). The physician should also—
  
  • Give the traveler a signed and dated exemption letter on the physician’s letterhead stationery, clearly stating the contraindications to vaccination and bearing the stamp used by the yellow fever vaccination centers to validate the ICVP.
    
  • Inform the traveler of any increased risk of yellow fever infection associated with nonvaccination and how to minimize this risk by using mosquito protection measures.
    

  [*]Reasons other than medical contraindications are not acceptable for exemption from vaccination.

  [*]The traveler should be advised that issuance of a waiver does not guarantee its acceptance by the destination country. On arrival at the destination, the traveler may be faced with quarantine, refusal of entry, or vaccination on site.

  [*]To potentially improve the likelihood of acceptance of a waiver upon arrival at the destination country, the provider can suggest that the traveler take the following additional measures before initiating travel:

  • Obtain specific and authoritative advice from the embassy or consulate of the country or countries he or she plans to visit.
    
  • Request documentation of requirements for waivers from embassies or consulates and retain these along with the completed Medical Contraindication to Vaccination section of the ICVP.
    

There is an INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE of VACCINATION approved by WHO (World Health Organization).

This form is used both to record vaccinations AND for the medical waiver. For anyone that has one of the yellow forms, look in about the middle and you will see MEDICAL CONTRAINDICATION TO VACCINATION.

This is the part that needs to be filled out and stamped by whoever is the local health organization that controls Yellow Fever vaccinations. The letter on doctor's letterhead needs to be taken to either a public health organization or a medical travel clinic, stamped and the letter attached. That is the ONLY form which is accepted worldwide by various countries' health adminstrations. I sure wouldn't bank on what a cruise line employee told me, especially if you want to travel to other places in the world where a YF shot is required (Africa, parts of Asia).

In the US, it is the public health government organizations (including local county level public health agencies). There is definitely the same type of public health organization in Canada. This is what I found via a simple google search: Yellow Fever Vaccination Program, Migration and Travel Health Division, Public Health Agency of Canada at (613) 957-8739. I am sure a phone call will point you to the proper place. I was even able to get YF shots for two of my employees and a waiver for one in a VERY small county in Northern Missouri via public health. They had to wait about 2-3 weeks for the vaccine/forms to arrive because there is no demand in that small county. BUT IIRC, they only paid about $40 each, which was more for overnight shipping and handling than anything else. A definite saving over larger cities' costs, which average about $100pp.

Thanaks both of you for your reply. Greatam you are always so helpful especially last year withthe Princess Star fiasco. We boarded in Rio on the 17th of March and met up with friends that never made it to Valpariso.

Ontario Cruiser

P.S. Also emailed the Brazilan consulate in Toronto to check and see if we would be asked to produce a YF certificate when coming into Brazil via air this time. We have not been to any infected countries