Airlines in Kenya have issued travel advisories, urging all passengers coming into the country to travel with their Covid-19 vaccination cards/certificates.
This is in response to a directive by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), which seeks to curb the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
In response, Uganda Airlines has urged all its passengers going to Kenya to respect the directive.
“Entry into Kenya has been restricted to only COVID-19 fully vaccinated passengers. Passengers travelling into Kenya are advised to carry their Covid-19 vaccination cards,” the Uganda Airlines advisory reads in part.
KCAA’s directive, which took effect from 21st December 2021 reads: “All passengers arriving into Kenya through any point of entry must have certificate of COVID-19 vaccination. Travellers below the age of eighteen (18) years are exempt from this requirement.”
Uganda Airlines flies to Nairobi, Kenya twice a day and 14 times a week, making it one of their busy routes.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also suspended flights from Uganda to Dubai until further notice. Flights from Entebbe were also suspended in June due to the surge of COVID-19 cases and many passengers testing positive for the virus on arrival in Dubai.
Covid-19 vaccination in Uganda has remained low despite the government procuring enough vaccines.
Uganda has, since March this year, received 32 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines and so far administered 11.37 million jabs across the country.
A total of 1,809 more people tested positive for Covid-19 with four more virus deaths on Thursday as infections surged to 139,079 cases since March last year when the outbreak was confirmed in Uganda.