Yellow Fever Shot

I had the yellow fever vaccine certificate from US 15 years ago and somehow lost it. I had to travel to Uganda to see the Gorillas and an entry condition was having this certificate.

The morning before the flight, I tried to figure out if I could get it in Pune, India, from where I was connecting to the travel to Uganda.

I read the local hospital has vaccines available Monday, Wednesday and Friday but no appointments were available. I went to the well known Sasoon Hospital and the staff at the front desk said they have no appointments for the entire month. He asked me to go get it from many walk-in clinics in Mumbai, but the Mumbai locations were closed on the day that I planned to be there.

Because Indians go to Africa for work and also to work on the ships, they need this certificate as well, therefore there is a huge rush for them. 

I told the front desk staff that I am trying to visit each country in the world and Uganda will be my 130th. I have a visa in hand, and have a US passport. After initially brushing me off, he told me to talk to his supervisor.

The supervisor said I could make an appointment for any day in the future and he could give me the vaccine today. I made the appointment and they needed ₹320 as payment, but their standard method of payment, UPI, was not accepted. Only a credit card was a valid mode of payment. I tried to use US credit cards and they did not work. I tried my India debit cards and they did not work. I called a friend and he gave one of his debit cards which did not work. Then he gave me his business debit card and that finally worked. 

The next step was to go to a store and get a printed copy of the appointment along with the copy of the passport. Next, the supervisor had to sign off on these pieces of papers because I was causing a change in their standard protocols.

I went to get the supervisor's signature and he asked to wait for two minutes. I kept pacing around his office and finally an hour later he gave his signature. 

Next was an interview with the doctors on my current health condition and allergies. Another hour of pacing, and they invited me to take the vaccine and within the next two minutes, they gave me the yellow fever’s yellow colored certificate.

Overall, it took just over three hours, but I was glad I have cleared this hurdle and I was ready to see the Gorillas.

I had a few coins from prior foreign countries I had visited, and I handed one to each person I interacted with and they accepted it gladly.