Nigerian Government has said plans are ongoing to implement the policy on Vaccine Mandate for all Federal Public Servants.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha stated this on Monday at the national briefing.
“Efforts are on-going to implement the policy on Vaccine Mandate for all Federal Public Servants. This is to ensure safety in the workplace and at home. The ED NPHCDA will elaborate on this as well as the status of vaccination administration in the country.
“Compliance with protocols laid down for quarantine to ensure control remains a source of worry to the PSC. The need to review the protocol has become expedient to align with existing global protocols and realities. On this note, the PSC will adopt a sustainable model and policy that will be unveiled soon.”
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib added that “with the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 globally, we are beginning to see countries instituting vaccine mandates.
“Some countries have begun asking workers to either present a proof of vaccination or provide weekly COVID-19 PCR negative results in order to be allowed into public offices. In order to end this pandemic, we must achieve enough level of population immunity, that the virus essentially becomes a nuisance and no longer a threat.
“The only way to achieve this is if eligible persons come out for vaccination and observe the non-pharmaceutical interventions. The COVID-19 vaccines remain the most effective tool against this virus.
“A recent study by the United States Centre for Disease Control (USCDC) which examined 600,000 COVID-19 cases, revealed that people who were unvaccinated were about four and a half times more likely to contract COVID-19.
“It further showed that those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 were eleven times more likely to die of the disease and ten times more likely to be hospitalized with the disease. We should also be mindful of the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection, which is characterized by blood clotting disorders, lung and kidney problems.
“In this regard, let me emphasize that all COVID-19 vaccines are safe and capable of protecting people against the disease. We do not promote preference of one vaccine brand over the other, and we strongly discourage mixing of vaccine brand for first and second doses.”
