COVID-19 vaccine certificates will soon become a mandatory requirement for anyone wishing to embark on an international trip, the Chairman of the Pres
COVID-19 vaccine certificates will soon become a mandatory requirement for anyone wishing to embark on an international trip, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha, has said.
Mustapha stated this while also calling on all Nigerians to avail themselves to be vaccinated against the virus.
It would be recalled that Nigeria received 3.9 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on Tuesday and at about 11:30 am on Saturday, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo took their first jab.
Shortly after the President and his vice took the first dose of the vaccine, the Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, presented them with their COVID-19 vaccination certificates.
Speaking at the event, the PTF chairman said,
“Today, Mr President and the Vice-President have equally demonstrated leadership by offering themselves for the Nigerian people to believe in the safety and the efficacy of the vaccines that we have procured and is being deployed.
“Vaccine hesitancy will have to give way to the reality because the truth about it is that very soon, nobody will be able to travel the world unless you produce the certificate that you have been given. I have not confirmed this but reliably, some countries have started putting restrictions for receiving visitors, even for exercising activities of their faith, without a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.
“The word that is going out there on behalf of Mr President is that Nigerians should make themselves available, those that are eligible in the first phase of the deployment, because the deployment is going to be in four phases, to receive these vaccines.
“They (vaccines) have been tested, our most strategic leadership have received these vaccines this morning. They are safe, they are efficacious and it is for the good and wellbeing of our people.”
Meanwhile, some health workers including Dr. Cyprian Ngong of the National Hospital, Abuja, have received shots of the vaccines during the flag-off of the vaccination exercise on Friday.