Yellow Fever Requirements.

Yellow fever vaccination is required for entry into Tanzania if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is endemic. This is an immigration requirement, not a medical recommendation — you will need to present a valid International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP, the yellow card) at the border if arriving from an endemic country.

Yellow fever endemic countries include most of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South America. The full current list is maintained by the World Health Organization. If your flight routing takes you through an endemic country even in transit, you may be required to have the vaccination. Check the current WHO yellow fever endemic country list and confirm with your airline whether your transit connections trigger the requirement.

The yellow fever vaccination provides lifelong protection after a single dose. The WHO revised its guidance in 2016 to state that a single primary dose confers lifelong immunity — booster doses are no longer required for most people. The ICVP yellow card is valid for life from the date of vaccination (ten days after vaccination for primary doses). Travellers vaccinated before 2016 whose ICVP shows a previous ten-year validity may need to update their card to reflect the lifetime validity — consult your travel medicine clinic.

Travellers who cannot receive the yellow fever vaccine for medical reasons (severe allergy to egg protein or other vaccine components, certain immune conditions, infants under nine months) can obtain a medical exemption certificate from an authorised travel medicine clinic. Tanzania immigration authorities accept these certificates as an alternative to the ICVP in genuine medical exemption cases. The exemption certificate must be signed by a licensed physician on official letterhead.