Omicron: LCCI, NACCIMA Charge Nigerians on Mass Vaccination

*Faults red listing
*US COVID-19 vaccine donation to Nigeria reaches 13.5 million
*Don’t reciprocate travel ban, NMA tells FG
*Urges caution against removal of fuel subsidy

Michael Olugbode, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Dike Onwuamaeze in Lagos

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) have urged Nigerians to embrace vaccination and other governments laid down protocols for the containment of the spread of COVID-19.

Both members of the organised private sector (OPS), stated this in separate statements made available to THISDAY yesterday, just as they also condemned countries that had placed travel ban on Nigeria and some other African countries as actions that were not based on science.

This is just as the United States yesterday put its COVID-19 vaccine donations to Nigeria at 13.5 million doses, as 2.5 million Pfizer vaccine arrive the country this week.
Also, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has advised the federal government not to take reciprocal action by imposing travel restriction on incoming travellers from the United Kingdom.

The President of the LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, said in the statement urged, “every Nigerian and other nationals within this country to increase compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols and continue to take precautions against the virus.

“We must all work toward a safer Nigeria. Let us free our minds and stop being hesitant about taking the COVID-19 vaccine. The fear of dying after receiving the vaccine and other conspiracy theories should be perished.

“If we fail to abide by these simple and life-saving rules, we would be endangering our lives and that of others, and this may eventually lead to another lockdown which we cannot afford as a country.

“Any imposition of lockdown as a measure to contain and manage the spread of the virus should be avoided at all cost.”

Olawale-Cole said the government should provide the necessary support and enabling environment for the private sector to invest heavily in the manufacture of vaccines that can meet our domestic demand and for export.

“We also appeal to the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong to remove Nigeria from the travel red list of countries banned by them,’” adding that “it would be unfair to ban Nigerians from travelling to your countries.”

Similarly, the Director General of NACCIMA, Ambassador Ayo Olukanni, in a separate statement in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron said the association was in total support of strategic and proactive measures deployed by government and stakeholders to effectively prevent further spread of the new variant.

Olukanni said this would prevent its impact on lives, livelihood and economic activities, thereby subjecting the country to another level of hardship.

He said: “In this regard, NACCIMA, therefore urged Nigerians to adhere strictly to well-established COVID-19 guidelines and application of non-pharmaceutical protocol, including wearing of mask, and regular washing of hands.

“Those who are yet to do so must also get vaccinated. Perhaps most importantly at the moment there is need for urgent action to ensure rapid and universal vaccination of our population.

“NACCIMA is, therefore, strongly in support of the global call for vaccine equity to ensure universal vaccination. In addition, on the local front, NACCIMA joins the call for local production vaccination urgently as one of the key strategic steps to tackle the pandemic,” he said.

He added that NACCINA, “wishes to state that it is strongly against the unwarranted travel ban placed on Nigerians by the UK, Canada and other countries due to the Omicron variant. We therefore call on these countries, and others that have joined the bandwagon of travel bans to rescind their decision on the travel ban against Nigerians.”

US COVID-19 Donation to Nigeria Hits 13.5 Million

Meanwhile, the United States has disclosed that its COVID-19 vaccines’ donations to Nigeria has risen to 13.5 million doses. Presently, the United States has donated more than 13.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with COVAX, or bilaterally to Nigeria.
A statement by the US Embassy in Nigeria welcomed the arrival of 2.5 million Pfizer vaccine doses in Abuja this week.

Additionally, the United States revealed that it has provided more than $119 million in COVID-19 related health assistance. This, it listed included a 40-bed mobile field hospital, ventilators and related training for 88 hospitals, personal protective equipment, technical assistance for vaccine readiness, risk communication and demand generation for vaccines, conducting an epidemiological COVID-19 detection and vaccine hesitancy survey, setting up electronic record systems, rapid response teams, training for over 200,000 military and civilian personnel on COVID-19 control measures, and technology for virtual training.

In addition, the United States stated that it leveraged the PEPFAR-supported National Integrated Specimen Referral Network (NiSRN) and laboratory investments to support expansion of the NCDC (153) molecular laboratory network nationwide.

It added that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency received the vaccines, ensuring they were taken to cold storage to prepare for distribution to over 3,000 health facilities across all 36 states and FCT-Abuja, revealing that over the next several weeks, the vaccines would be available at major markets, shopping malls, event centers, motor parks, airports, places of employment, and religious institutions as part of Nigeria’s mass vaccination campaign.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had noted earlier this month that: “The COVID-19 pandemic won’t end for any country until it ends for all countries. Otherwise, the virus will keep replicating around the world, people will keep getting sick and dying, and we won’t be able to safely reopen our economies or travel around the world for business and tourism the way we used to. That’s why the United States is committed to helping end the pandemic in Nigeria and everywhere.”

Don’t Reciprocate UK’s Travel Ban, NMA tells FG

In a related development, the NMA has advised the federal government not to undertake a reciprocal action by imposing travel restriction on incoming travellers from the United Kingdom.
It described the policy of the British government as unfortunate.

Amidst the controversy over plan by the federal government to remove fuel subsidy, the doctors also advised that proper assessment of its impact be made before approving it.
It however advised the government to consider restricting travel from countries after undertaken critical assessment based on scientific evidence.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja yesterday, NMA President, Prof. Innocent Ujah said red listing of Nigeria was not a proper thing to do considering the efforts the country was making to control the spread of the pandemic.
“The issue of travel ban for Nigeria due to omicron variant by the UK, I must say is very unfortunate because I know that Nigeria is doing its best to control and contain the COVID19 pandemic,” he said.

Ujah, however said that though it was the right of countries to take measures to protect their citizens, such action should be taken after a critical assessment and should be science-based .
He urged the federal government to ensure that adequate measures are taken to protect our citizens from the COVID19 virus

“”We should also look at those coming from other parts of the world. Because you recall that previously, Turkey, India and Brazil were restricted from coming to Nigeria based on the volume cases of COVID19 from there.
“So obviously we should do our critical assessment and if we feel that any country will pose a threat to our people, then people from such countries should be prevented from coming to Nigeria. There is nothing wrong with that because we need to protect our citizens,” he said.

While briefing journalists on the decisions reached at the just concluded National Executive Council (NEC); meeting of NMA held in Sokoto, Ujah said it considered progress made on the implementation of the Memornadum of Understanding signed with government in August this year.

He said that NMA appreciated the support of President Muhammadu Buhari towards resolving the industrial crisis in the health sector.

However, Ujah said the NEC urged relevant government agencies to expedite action on the full Implementation of the MoU to engender peace in the sector.

The NMA president also spoke on some national issues such as the proposed withdrawal of fuel subsidy.
He said that NMA “called on the federal government to ensure that the harsh effects of the subsidy removal do not outweigh the gains”.