As we find ourselves nearly half way through 2023, most of the world has lost its appetite for pandemic related border closures and travel restrictions. We are supportive of public health measures that save lives, but it is a huge relief to us that we can once again move around West Africa freely.
So are there still any restrictions on travel in West Africa? Technically, yes. In most countries you need to be vaccinated with either one dose of Johnson & Johnson or two doses of the following: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, or Sinovac. In West Africa, this is fully vaccinated.
Normally we would break this down country by country, but for the moment we can speak globally for all of West Africa. At the time of this writing, there are no countries in West Africa that require a PCR test if you are fully vaccinated. There are no booster requirements and it seems vaccinations are still valid even if they are multiple years old.
Many countries, including the United States, do not have QR codes on their vaccination certificates. As far as we know, no countries in West Africa are requiring that vaccination certificates have a QR code.
If you are not vaccinated, then you will have to have a negative PCR test. Typically, the test must be completed no more than 72 hours in advance of the start of the itinerary. Always double check with your airline on these things.
Those are the rules on paper
Most countries these days are not even bothering to check for vaccination certificates or test results, and it does seem like we are *fingers crossed* in the waning days of this pandemic as an acute health crisis. Of course, you know the deal in West Africa. If it’s still the rule on paper, someone can always ask for it. We’ve found the day you don’t have a document is the day you are asked to present it.
That said, in April 2023 I visited three different countries in West Africa and was not asked to present anything. These countries were: Senegal, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. Importantly, airlines also did not ask to see any documents before boarding.
Our thoughts on vaccination
Feel free to mark your territory in the comments. This is where we stand anyway. While vaccination is obviously a choice, we think it should rate higher for those of us that are traveling. Travel is a privilege. We should not be a burden on any place that we are fortunate enough to visit.
In West Africa, fragile health care systems are already taxed and under-resourced. Getting vaccinated helps to prevent infection, transmission, and to mitigate symptoms if infection does occur. No, it is not a silver bullet. But that does not mean that it’s not an important tool.
At the end of the day, we believe in science and we believe in the basic principles of living together in a society with other humans.
This far into 2023, vaccination does seems less important as it did when we originally wrote this post. We hope that the pandemic is in our rear view mirror and we can all move on (as much as we can — we are cognizant of the many people dealing with long covid and chronic health issues as a result of this disease).
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