By Bimbola Oyesola
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, urged the Federal Government to use persuasion and conviction rather than force to get workers and the populace to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Federal Government had set a December 1 deadline for civil servants to be vaccinated.
Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee, Boss Mustapha, has said: “With effect from December 1, 2021, the 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.”
But NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said it was understandable that some people preferred to view COVID-19 vaccination with caution.
“It is important to proceed on issues of public health with great caution. Yet, it would be foolhardy to elevate caution above scientific evidence and facts from public health records.
“The truth is that despite being imperfect, the COVID-19 vaccine has given all of us a better chance of fighting the virus and staying alive,” he said.
NLC, therefore, urged workers all over the world to take advantage of the COVID-19 vaccines and keep themselves, their families and their colleagues at work safe and free from the morbid threats of the corona pandemic.
The congress also charged government and other employers of labour to make special arrangements for workers to access the vaccine at the workplace.
NLC president recalled the COVID-19 pandemic brought some of the biggest strains, stress and squeeze to the workplace.
“Thousands of workers died. Many of the dead from the global workforce were frontline workers. As at the third week of October 2021, more than 180,000 health workers world over had lost their lives to COVID-19.
“The high rate of fatality is unfortunate, but also highlights the sacrifice that workers have made in combating and containing this deadly virus. Many more workers have their jobs and means of livelihood to COVID-19,” Wabba said.