Edo bars unvaccinated civil servants from entering government offices

The Edo state government says it will start restricting entry into government offices for unvaccinated civil servants from Wednesday.

The state government said the move is the first phase of its enforcement of restriction on large public gatherings for persons without evidence of COVID-19 vaccination.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday, Osamwonyi Irowa, permanent secretary, Edo ministry of health, said only those with proof of vaccination will be allowed access into government facilities.

He said: “If you have to enter the state secretariat and other government offices, you must have your vaccination cards.

“The first phase of the enforcement, which begins tomorrow, September 15, is targeted at state government facilities.

“Those that cannot provide their COVID-19 vaccination cards may have to excuse us and be working from home, pending when a decision will be reached. As a state, we are doing everything possible to make sure that people don’t get infected.

“We are appealing to our people to get vaccinated because that is the more suitable way to prevent the severity of the disease and avoid death. The enforcement teams will commence tomorrow to help us reduce the number of cases and deaths that we are recording daily.”

Yusuf Haruna, head of the COVID-19 enforcement team, said 20 special teams have been trained to enforce the “no vaccination, no entry into government-owned facilities” plan.

He said: “As we all know, the government has the responsibility of protecting the lives and property of citizens. In view of this, we have trained 20 special teams that will be spread across the 18 local government areas of the state.

“They will commence this enforcement from the 15th of September, 2021. What we expect our people to do is that, while going to work, they should go with their vaccination cards. The government is not forcing anybody to take the vaccines, but it has the responsibility to tell you not to spread the virus.”

“What we are going to do tomorrow is to grant those who have the authentic vaccination cards access to their government working places and those without the cards can go back and work from home.

“These 20 special teams will be saddled with the responsibility of scanning and confirming the authenticity of these vacation cards and also diligently asking those who don’t have to go and work from home. This is the directive of the state government and it will be enforced to the letter.”

So far, Edo state has recorded 1,034 cases and 53 fatalities in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the state government, 20 unvaccinated persons have died in the last four days.