Photo: VCG

Shanghai municipal government’s hotline 12345 has recently received a slew of complaints about the shortage of yellow fever vaccines for local residents, the Shanghai Observer reported on Monday.

According to the report, the number of Shanghai residents traveling to Africa and South America has been surging over the past two years. The high demand has resulted in the shortage of yellow fever vaccines for some time, especially when the summer vacation is approaching, since the yellow fever vaccination certificate is a health requirement for entry into many African and South American countries.

According to media reports, China’s outbound tourism market boomed during the past May Day holidays, with travels to Africa gradually gaining popularity in addition to traditional popular destinations for Chinese tourists like Southeast Asian and European countries.

Data from Chinese travel platform Mafengwo show that among the popular niche countries for Chinese tourists’ travel destinations during the May Day holidays, four African countries, including Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Mauritius, are on the list.

A local resident surnamed Wang who had planned to travel to South America at the end of June told the media that all the appointments for the vaccination services had been booked since mid-May.

The Shanghai International Travel Healthcare Center where appointments for the vaccination services can be made said on Wednesday that the vaccination service had been adjusted since Wednesday with increased vaccine supply, prolonged vaccination hours, increased service hours on Saturday, adjusted appointment methods and increased inoculation venues.

The center has prolonged service hours by two and a half hours every day. The prolonged hours are designated for 50 appointments for yellow fever vaccination. Besides, the center also has arranged additional 100 appointments for yellow fever vaccination on Saturdays.

Earlier this year, the center anticipated a possible surge in yellow fever vaccinations and purchased 10,000 doses of the yellow fever vaccines, based on last year’s total of over 5,000 doses that were administered.

The center has also reserved funds to ensure that additional supplies can be promptly procured if needed, guaranteeing an adequate supply of yellow fever vaccines in Shanghai.

Yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, with primary clinical manifestations including fever, jaundice and bleeding. The mortality rate of the disease can be as high as 20 percent to 40 percent.

In recent years, with the increase in direct flights between China and Africa and the introduction of favorable measures such as relaxed visa policies, the demand from Chinese tourists to travel to Africa has been steadily growing. China has signed bilateral tourism cooperation agreements with 31 African countries, listed 34 African countries as outbound travel destinations for Chinese nationals, and established 166 pairs of sister cities with various African countries.

Tanzania’s tourism department estimated that the number of Chinese tourists increased from nearly 34,000 in 2019 to 44,000 in 2023, the People’s Daily overseas edition reported.

Global Times