COVID-19: Get vaccinated or stay in your house- Senate to civil servants

The Senate has announced its support for the compulsory COVID-19 vaccination of public workers in the federal and state civil service.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Chukwuka Utazi, told The Punch’s correspondent in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday that the directive had the full backing of the federal parliament.

“The parliament is not different from the executive because it is the same federal government. We are both concerned about the health of the people and how to prevent unwanted deaths”, Utazi said.

“No government will fold its hands and watch some people constituting health risks to others.

“That is why we said if you are a worker and you want to continue to enter government premises, you have to protect yourself.

Read also: COVID-19: Persuade workers to get vaccinated- NLC to FG

“If you are against government’s policy meant to safeguard the health of the people, you don’t need to leave your house.

“However, if you are going to the same place with other law-abiding workers, we won’t allow you to endanger their lives.”

He added, “Beyond the non-pharmaceutical approach, we want to be sure that the people are protected against the virus through vaccination.

“We want to vaccinate the people so that we secure our populace. If you check the percentage of those who are vaccinated, compared to the over 200 million population, it is too insignificant for herd immunity.

“Compared to other climes, the percentage of those that have been vaccinated, the figure is too low in Nigeria.”

Read original article on The Punch.