Daily Dates Nigeria recalls that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Chairman Presidential Steering Committee on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha,  announced that all civil servants in Nigeria shall with effect from 1st of December, 2021 show proof of vaccination or present a negative covid-19 PCR test result done within 72 hours to gain access to their various offices  within Nigeria and Missions abroad.

Ubani said “Two States in the Federation had earlier on before now made it compulsory for their citizens in their various states to get vaccinated, failing which they are denied access to public spaces and religious worship centres. In the case of Edo State, an interim order from the court restraining the state government from going ahead with the policy was ignored by them up till now.

“This hasty policy pronouncement by these governments is faulted on several grounds:

1. As at today in Nigeria, there is no enabling substantive legislation that makes covid-19 vaccination compulsory. In the absence of any such law, any policy statement from the government that lacks legal backing, especially when it is meant to take away guaranteed rights, is illogical, unlawful, null and void. The government is advised to follow due processes and enact a law that will pass through all the legislative steps  that has the right to derogate on the rights already guaranteed, and it must be a reasonable law permissible in a democratic society.

2. The compulsory vaccination directive violates the right to life. Assuming but not conceding that there is a law backing the compulsory vaccination, such law  will still  make room for exceptions. There may be persons with valid health related or other relevant reasons who may want to opt out of such compulsory vaccinations and the law must allow them. If such exceptions that are justifiable  are not provided, then it is likely that such law violates the human rights of those who are vulnerable.

Has the government proved without any doubt of the health risks associated with the vaccinations?  We are not ignorant of  stories of those who have gone ahead to develop various other ailments after taking the vaccinations and these news  we learnt are suppressed,  and we have also been inundated with news of  those who have died even after taken first and second jab of the vaccines.

As the government have failed to concretely convince the citizens on the issue of health, safety and bodily harm of this vaccination, then they are advised to desist from pursuing their present policy that is in collision course with the bodily integrity of the citizens. They should rather utilise persuasive methodology to get citizens convinced of the benefits of the said vaccinations but most importantly, they are advised to pursue  free education, free health policies and other social welfare policies  and make them compulsory for the citizens which will in turn attract accolades for the government.

3. The punishment of denial of access to office by the directive is a clear violation of the contractual terms of employment, and secondly a restriction to freedom of liberty and movement guaranteed under chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution as amended,  Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. When these civil servants were employed, compulsory vaccinations and its attendant punishment for non compliance were not part of their terms of contract. This new policy is a rude interruption to cordial labour relationship and is against international best labour practices.

4. The Government’s denial that the directive did not make vaccination compulsory is not only laughable but a mockery of everything that is  decent. If it is not compulsory as insinuated, why would the alternative be more draconian than the first option? The second alternative is to the effect that any un-vaccinated civil servant must show proof of negative result every 72 hours. An average single test costs 50 thousand naira and this a country where only few States  pay their  civil servant 30 thousand as a minimum wage!  Where do the government expect any civil servant who chooses not  to take the vaccination raise such money to be jumping in and out of laboratories every 72 hours to prove that he or she is free from covid-19 virus?

The truth of the matter is that there are hesitancies to the vaccinations worldwide and this is fueled by several theories and rumours. In the state of such confusion, the State must respect the rights of citizens to make informed personal decisions and not to be compulsorily rail-road into vaccination whose final implication is unknown even to the scientific community.

It is our contention that the civil servants have a right to their privacy and the right to to decide what is best for their health and well- being.

The present policy of insisting on due observance of covid 19 protocols and the tests before exit or entry into the country is part of  the elaborate measures  to curb the pandemic, after all, Nigeria has escaped the predictions of doom as a country that will experience colossal death due to the pandemic. We are not dropping dead on the streets as they had predicted and will not as long as  we insist on strict covid-19  protocol’s observance.

The best policy for the country remains that the citizens be not allowed to lower the guard in preventive measures in dealing with the pandemic.
Any directive on compulsory vacinnation is immature, needless, unacceptable and hereby totally rejected.

The Federal Government is hereby put on notice that any intention to pursue this illegal policy will be met with stiff legal challenge as such directive violates the existing labour terms and the fundamental rights of the civil servants to their privacy, life, movement, religious belief and faith, and liberty.

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The two persons were discovered by health experts to have been administered brands of the vaccines that were already contaminated before their arrival into the country.

As gathered, the deceased people, both men in their 30s, passed on within days of getting inoculated with the second dose of Moderna vaccines.

Close associates to the deceased narrated that both had a fever the day after receiving the second dose and died two days later following the fever.

Following the development on Saturday, the Japanese government has put the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine brand on hold to avoid further deaths across the country.

The two men, it was learnt, had received a shot from one of the three manufacturing lots of the coronavirus vaccines that were suspended. Their deaths are being probed.

This development comes after Japan on Thursday suspended the use of a total of 1.63 million doses of Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccines – over a week after the domestic distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, got reports of contamination in some of the vials.

However, both Takeda and Moderna insisted on carrying out a formal investigation to determine the connection. “At this time, we do not have any evidence that these deaths are caused by the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine,” the companies said in a statement made available to newsmen.

Following the suspension of vaccine doses, both Moderna and Japan said that no efficacy or safety issue had been spotted and that the move was just a precautionary measure.

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The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, on Monday during the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 press briefing confirmed the receipt of vaccine.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the United States as it steps up efforts to battle a third wave of infections.

The doses arrived on two planes and were received by UNICEF officials on behalf of Nigeria at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, FCT.

The delivery was the second batch of vaccines to arrive in Nigeria after four million doses were delivered in March under the COVAX vaccine sharing Facility.

COVAX was set up to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries, and has already delivered more than 80 million doses to 129 territories.

Nigeria has since exhausted the four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to kick off its nationwide inoculation programme.

The Moderna vaccine is mRNA type of vaccine manufactured and developed by Moderna, NIAID.

Two shots of the vaccine are administered through intramuscular injection, 28 days apart.

The Moderna vaccine has been listed for emergency use by the World Health Organisation, WHO, and approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, as safe and effective based on data from large-scale clinical trials.

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The vaccine was administered on Buhari by his Personnel physician Dr Suhayb Sanusi Rafindadi at the Resident Presidential Villa Abuja.

See pictures.

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NPHCDA’s Executive Director, Dr. Faisal Shuaib made this known at a media briefing at the state house today.

Dr. Faisal said the vaccination of the number one and two citizens will come after some frontline health workers have been vaccinated on Friday.

The AstraZeneca Vaccine which arrived in the country on Tuesday, 2nd of March had earlier been approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

More details shortly…

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