The Nigerian Government says there’s no going back on the vaccination deadline for Civil servants across the Federation.
The Executive Director, National Primary Health-care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Shu’aib Faisal stated this at the National Media briefing in Abuja, Nigeria.
He said that starting from December 1, 2021, all Federal Civil servants would be required to show evidence of being vaccinated against COVID-19, or a negative PCR result done within 72 hours before being allowed into their offices.
“To further ease access to COVID-19 vaccines by Government employees, we have also commenced office-to-office vaccination in Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). What this simply means is that employees who are yet to be vaccinated will find a vaccination site around their offices to register and get vaccinated. This will help in preventing the excuse of having to leave their place of employment to a distant vaccination site.
“We would like to also state that, from time to time, civil servants will be picked at random to check or assess their COVID-19 antibody title to detect persons who may have fraudulently acquired the vaccination cards without vaccination. Anyone who has been found to have fraudulently obtained the vaccination card without vaccination would be handed over to the law enforcement authorities. The vaccines are free and are available at sites close to you” he said.
“We have also engaged and are collaborating with the Nigerian Military, Police and Para-Military institutions for the establishment of mass vaccination sites in their locations around the country. We will also be assisting with the deployment of our vaccination teams to all sites identified by these institutions” he added.
COVID-19: Federal Government mandates Employees to get vaccinated by December 1
According to Dr Shu’aib, NPHCDA in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons will launch a mass vaccination in Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across the country.
“This is to ensure that all refugees and internally displaced persons and their families are fully protected and that the camps are safe for habitation. This is the type of collaboration we look forward to from all other MDAs. We therefore urge all MDAs to work with us in facilitating the rapid vaccination of their personnel. This has become even more expedient in view of the emergence of the Omicron variant, which is a more virulent strain of COVID-19 and is expected to cause more severe illness.
“Every COVID-19 infection gives the coronavirus a chance to mutate. Therefore, being vaccinated helps prevent variants. At this point, we would also like to address the myth that says if one has had the COVID-19 disease and has recovered from it, they are protected and do not need to get vaccinated. This is FALSE as studies have shown that if you have had COVID-19 before and are not vaccinated, your risk of getting reinfected is more than two times higher than those who were infected and got vaccinated.
“This is a clarion call to those who are yet to be vaccinated to hurry up and take advantage of our mass vaccination campaign to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Those who have received their first dose should also endeavour to go and get their second dose on their due dates, for full protection” Dr Shu’aib said.
Presently more than Six million Nigerians have received the first dose of the vaccine while more than three million have been fully vaccinated.
Emmanuel Ukoh
