The Apapa Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service has barred its personnel, clearing agents and other stakeholders that have not received the COVID-19 vaccine from accessing its premises.
An internal memo obtained exclusively by SHIPS & PORTS states that all unvaccinated persons including Customs officials will no longer be allowed into the premises of the Area Command from today Wednesday January 12, 2022.
The memo reads: “This is to inform officers/members and the general public that as from Wednesday 12th January 2022, no person including officers that has not taken the COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed into the Customs premises. You are to come along with proof of vaccination.”
In October 2021, the Federal Government, as part of measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, announced that it would bar unvaccinated civil servants from accessing their offices effective December 1, 2021. The government said workers in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that fail to show proof of their vaccination against the deadly virus or a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test done within 72 hours would not be allowed into their offices.
“With effect from 1st December, 2021, Federal Government employees shall be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result done within 72 hours, to gain access to their offices, in all locations within Nigeria and our Missions. An appropriate service wide advisory/circular will be issued to guide the process,” Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Boss Mustapha, had said.
Some states including Edo, Ondo and Kaduna have since announced the same measures for their workers.
As at December 31, 2021, only 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses made up of 10.46 million first doses; 4.51 million second doses and 52,177 third doses have been administered in the country. This means Nigeria has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccine uptakes in the world with 4.7% of the population administered with the first dose and 2.1% fully vaccinated.