Covid: Nigeria bars unvaccinated civil servants from office 

By MOHAMMED MOMOH

Abuja,

Unvaccinated civil servants in Nigeria were on Wednesday barred from entering their offices, as the country stepped up its efforts in curbing the spread on Covid-19.

The country also announced that it had detected the first cases of Omicron coronavirus variant, and urged residents to adhere to health policies.

Security agents were deployed in various offices on Wednesday and began enforcing the compulsory vaccine policy that was developed by the Presidential steering committee on Covid-19. 

In October, the committee gave the federal civil servants until December 1, 2021 to get a Covid vaccine.

Operatives of the Nigerian Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) were deployed to enforce compliance at the Federal Secretariat which houses all ministries.

Civil servants and members of the public who are unable to provide proof of vaccination and a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) at the entrance to the Head of Service building were turned back. 

Some angry angered civil servants accused the government of discriminatory enforcement of vaccine policy.