COVID-19: FG vows to prosecute workers with fake vaccination certificate

The Federal Government has vowed to prosecute any civil servant with forged COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

All civil servants on grade level 12 downward already vaccinated against COVID-19 have been directed to resume in their duty posts from Wednesday December 1^st.

Those without proof of vaccination have been mandated to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test done within the last 72 hours.

Executive Secretary of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said civil servants would be selected at random to check or assess their COVID-19 antibody titre.

This check, he said, is to detect whether or not the civil servants fraudulently acquired the vaccination cards without vaccination.

His words: “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 titre 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.”

Shuaib also disclosed that as at Monday 29^th November, 6,504,043 eligible persons have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria while 3,586,812 persons have been fully vaccinated against the disease.

He noted that none of these persons have died as a result of taking COVID-19 vaccine.

The NPHCDA boss stated that there are over 30 million doses of the vaccines at hand, while another 60 million doses have been committed before the first quarter of 2022.

On efforts to vaccinate the public servants, he said: “I would like to remind all Federal Government employees that starting from December 1st, 2021, they 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.”

On the reluctance of some Nigerians in taking the vaccines, Shuaib said: “We are aware that people hesitate to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for many reasons, ranging from personal views and fears to logistical problems of getting to vaccination sites. But waiting too long to be vaccinated allows the virus to continue spreading in the community with the emergence of new variants. Severe COVID-19 can be very dangerous, so the sooner you get vaccinated, the sooner you are protected.

“This is a period of intensive drive to protect Nigerians against this new variant and indeed a 4th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are not taking anything for granted; we are not compromising on safety and standards, and we are fully monitoring all adverse events following immunization (AEFI).

“But as I have always appealed, we need the support of all Nigerians. We need every vaccinated Nigerian to appeal to their family members, their loved ones, their neighbours, and members of their communities to get vaccinated so that we are all protected. It is indeed a collective responsibility.”