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Home » United Airlines » United Airlines Will Require Flight Attendants To Be Vaccinated, But It Isn’t What You Are Thinking…
United Airlines

United Airlines Will Require Flight Attendants To Be Vaccinated, But It Isn’t What You Are Thinking…

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 30, 2021November 14, 2023 10 Comments

an airplane flying in the sky

Despite COVID-19 vaccinations being at the forefront of our public conversation, there are still many other vaccinations being administered and vaccines required to travel internationally. For United Airlines flight attendants at Washington Dulles, that includes a more traditional vaccine required in order to work the carrier’s new flights to Africa.

United Airlines Mandates Vaccines…Yellow Fever Vaccines

Next month, United plans to resume service to Accra, Ghana after a multi-year hiatus. Later in the year, it plans to resume service to Lagos, Nigeria. Both flights will operate from United’s Washington Dulles hub.

Both countries require yellow fever vaccinations. Yellow fever is a disease caused by a virus that is spread through mosquito bites. Symptoms take 3–6 days to develop and include fever, chills, headache, backache, and muscle aches. In some cases, more serious side effects result.

Ghana and Nigeria require anyone entering the country to have a yellow fever vaccination certificate. Consequently, a memo to IAD-based flight attendants advised them that anyone wishing to work the new Accra flight next month would need a yellow fever vaccination.

Exceptions To Yellow Fever Vaccine For Flight Attendants

Although there are no exceptions for flight attendants wishing to serve ACC and LOS, several “contraindications” (exceptions) are available in which the yellow fever vaccination is not administered:

  • Allergy to eggs, sorbitol, gelatin, or latex (permanent waiver)
  • Prior allergic reaction to a yellow fever vaccination (permanent waiver)
  • Pregnant (temporary waiver)
    • Avoid attempting conception for 30 days following vaccination
  • Breastfeeding (temporary waiver)
  • Diagnosis of leukemia, lymphoma, other blood cancers, HIV or AIDS (permanent waiver unless treating physician clears)
  • Treatment with radiation or chemotherapy for a solid tumor cancer within the past five years (temporary waiver)
  • Taking oral steroids (prednisone, cortisone) greater than 10 mg a day for longer than two weeks (temporary waiver)
  • Taking medication for arthritis or severe psoriasis that might suppress the immune system such as Methotrexate, Enbrel, or Humira (temporary waiver)
  • For those over age 60, concern of yellow fever vaccine adverse reaction (permanent waiver)
  • History of Thymus gland being removed or thymus problem, myasthenia gravis. DiGeorge syndrome or thymoma (permanent waiver)
  • History of having received a live-virus vaccination within the previous 30 days such as MMR, chickenpox, shingles, oral polio, smallpox, or nasal flu vaccine (temporary waiver)
  • History of a systemic immunosuppressive or neurological disorder such as systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, ankylosing spondylitis, or Guillain-Barre Syndrome (permanent waiver)
  • Currently have an illness with a fever or acute infection (vaccination postponed until recovery)

But while these exemptions mean no vaccine, they also mean no travel to Africa on United. Will we see the same with COVID-19 vaccines one day for flight attendants who are unable or who choose not to get it?

CONCLUSION

For what it’s worth, when I flew into Accra last March I was not asked to present my yellow fever vaccination card (though I had it). I was asked for it Lagos (and did not have it…).

But in a world in which we are seemingly only focused on the coronavirus, it seems almost archaic to talk about vaccines like yellow fever. But indeed, the world is filled with disease and virus.

My hope is that the COVID-19 vaccine will be as commonplace as the yellow fever vaccination, no big deal and a standard jab for those wishing to embark upon international travel.

image: United Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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10 Comments

  1. Jerry Reply
    March 30, 2021 at 1:16 pm

    Due to the shortage in the US, the Yellow Fever jab is pretty expensive right now. Surely UA is paying for it. If they are, that’s reason enough to get it.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 30, 2021 at 1:16 pm

      Yes, the memo notes that UA is paying for it.

  2. TWA John Reply
    March 30, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    A few doses of Ivermectin would do the trick. It would also guard against all the other third world hell hole parasites. I hope it in no bid at UAL. No vaccine is 100% safe and every one is a risk. Go ahead , roll the dice!

  3. pelican55 Reply
    March 30, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    this is nothing new… it has always been this way when flying into these places. Not sure why it has to be news… bfd.

  4. Marik Reply
    March 30, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    It’s not news any flight attendant or pilot who has flown international knows you are supposed to be vacinated. When Continental (RIP) Started flying from Houston to Lagos, They were all required to get vacinated. Just using this to get a headline.

  5. CHRIS Reply
    March 30, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    Will they feel safe or will passengers breathing (or worse, ask for something) still be “toxic” to them.

  6. Julian Reply
    March 31, 2021 at 1:39 am

    The list of exceptions when that vaccine is not given makes me wonder if everyone beforehand gets tested on all those things, because its possible for some of them you won’t even know you have that allergy.
    That reminds of these other vaccines talked about a lot at the moment and given out en masse…

  7. Aaron Reply
    March 31, 2021 at 3:06 am

    “United Airlines Will Require Flight Attendants To Be Vaccinated, But It Isn’t What You Are Thinking…”

    When you clickbait it that way, who knows what people will think…

  8. 747always Reply
    March 31, 2021 at 11:30 pm

    AH the typical “no vaccine is safe” nonsense from the pro disease crowd.

  9. DC not in DC Reply
    April 8, 2021 at 5:05 pm

    Matthew, kudos on your comment that there are more diseases around. That is one reason I will not mind if the mask mandate stays in place.

    Transmission of noroviruses, rotaviruses, enteroviruses, rhinoviruses, etc. might be reduced by wearing a mask.

    Also, I have not smelled any passenger’s bad breath since mask wearing began.

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