The Federal Government has warned employees who love their jobs to go and get vaccinated ahead of the December 1 deadline for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Federal civil servants.
The chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had announced that effective December 1, 2021, unvaccinated Federal Government workers won’t be allowed access into any public offices, as part of measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.
While speaking during the COVID-19 vaccination update on Monday, November 23, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, observed that the COVID19 vaccine mandate has become a global phenomenon and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind in the fight against the pandemic.
“There’s a deadline already set and we are hoping that it will encourage those civil servants who love their jobs and are yet to take the COVID-19 vaccine to take the jab for their own good. The reason is that there’s evidence that supports the fact that if you are fully vaccinated, the effect of COVID-19 won’t be much on you. But that is not the same with unvaccinated people. There are higher chances of survival if a fully vaccinated person comes down with COVID-19.
“However, those who have not taken the vaccine are a threat to the safety of other people who have been fully vaccinated and possibly share same public places with them by virtue of being colleagues. There’s a higher risk of them infecting other people, and that’s what we want to avoid. In addition to that, we want to secure the health of others who share the same public spaces.
“Evidently, most countries now insist on presenting evidence of full vaccination before someone is being allowed into public places.”Ehanire said
What the Honorable Minister is saying here is not based on statistics. It is just imaginative assumptions.
If the Honorable Minister believes that there is good reasons to trample on the right of Nigerians to make decisions concerning their own lives, he should ensure that a proper cohort studies is carried out to show the number of non vaccinated patients with covid 19 and the number of vaccinated patients who have taken the vaccine and the rate of transmission of the disease among vaccinated and non vaccinated groups. This data should be made available to the general public to support his claims.
Otherwise, the decision to get vaccinated against covid 19 should be left to the individuals just like in the case of polio, tuberculosis, yellow fever, etc.
There is also well proven treatment for covid 19. If the government really wants to stop the covid 19 infections, they should look at other options that also work, and not mandate people to only one form of treatment which has been shown to carry significant level of fatal side effect!