COVID-19: Groups oppose mandatory vaccination in Nigeria, calls for vigilance 

A coalition of Non-governmental organisations in Osun State have alleged that there is an impending compulsory chip-based mass vaccination in Nigeria.

The groups, Living Science Foundation and Christian Initiative for Nation Building raised the alarm through a communique drafted after an online press conference on Tuesday, the copy which was made available to newsmen in Osogbo, Osun State on Wednesday.

The communique was signed by the duo of Joshua Ojo and Samuel Ogini on behalf of the two groups respectively.

According to the communique, the purpose of the conference was to discuss the increasingly touted position by responsible authorities, local and global, that the ongoing restrictions and lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic can only be fully lifted upon the development of “a vaccine that protects everyone”.

It added that there are tangible moves by major global authorities to declare the availability of a vaccine as a primary condition to close the COVID-19 pandemic.

It further alleged that the vaccine(s) being touted will be mandatory for the general population, and therefore would require “fake-proof” certification to be provided, using the recently unveiled chip-based digital identity ID2020 scheme.

“The scheme has been specifically described as a “program to leverage immunization as an opportunity to establish digital identity. This imminent mandatory chip-based mass vaccination would be introduced first at selected soft-target countries of which Nigeria is prime, based on our attractive population size and economic potentials; our weak and vulnerable governance structures which have been further compromised by ongoing COVID-19 problems; and the crashing oil prices which has further weakened government’s resilience against external pressures”.

The communique therefore highlighted the decisions and declarations of the conference to include the call for mandatory chip-based mass vaccination as not justifiable and not acceptable in Nigeria .

It also stated that efficacy of vaccines applied blindly in the “mass” mode to the generality of the population is known to be as low as 10%, adding that it is more appropriate that vaccines be used by sub-population groups who are evidently at risk, and administered in regimens customized for the individual.

The conference also asserted that very good progress is being made on a number of affordable and effective drugs for COVID-19, making vaccines just another option in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and should therefore not be mandatory.

The conference then concluded that it is unconscionable and unethical to insist that promising drugs cannot be administered until formal studies of their efficacy has been concluded; and in the same breathe insist that vaccines, which have proven issues with safety and efficacy must be mandatorily embraced by all among other assertions .

The communique then pinpointed some certain action points that were agreed on, which include :” The urgent need for vigorous action to sensitize and mobilize the Nigerian masses and media on this unwholesome plot.

“This will help the government to resist the tremendous external pressure the globalists behind this agenda are known to routinely exert to hand-twist governments where the masses are not enlightened. Both government and media invariably reflect and respond to the larger society.

“It will be helpful to specifically request responsible individuals including the Health Minister, DG NCDC, Chairman PTF, and perhaps the WHO representative in Nigeria to categorically provide information on coordination of local efforts to develop potent treatment for COVID-19, public enlightenment for preventive actions, strengthening and general comprehensive overhaul of our health institutions, as well as government’s stand regarding mandatory vaccinations.

“The Minister of Health should be requested to review the ongoing use of thimerosal-containing vaccines in Nigeria despite its proscription in the developed countries for over two decades. The Conference is of the view that this product is possibly causing much more harm to the health of Nigerians than COVID-19”.