Airline passengers will be required to either show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or provide a negative PCR test taken 48 hours before departure in a new travel advisory issued by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 to contain the new Omicron variant.
Passengers arriving in Nigeria are now expected to self-isolate for seven days and required to conduct a PCR test, 48 hours before embarking on their trips to the country and on the second day of arrival.
The measures which are expected to come into effect Friday, 3rd of December, 2021, will also apply to members of the diplomatic corps, the committee said.
Read also: Omicron variant: Nigeria ramps up surveillance
This directive which is contained in a press statement is issued by Mukhtar Muhammad, the National Incident Manager of the PSC, following the discovery of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.
Mohammad said there are concerns that the variant, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), poses a ‘great concern’, and could be on its way to Nigeria, considering the number of countries that have already reported the cases.
He said the committee will ensure that the directives are enforced through suspension of passports of offenders or their prosecution, or both.
The Committee also revealed it will be increasing its surveillance activities at all ports of entry into the country while also intensifying testing, contact tracing, and sequencing capacity.
“One of the reasons driving COVID-19 persistence and the emergence of a new variant, Omicron, is the promotion of vaccine nationalism, which helps rich countries procure vaccines for their citizens, through direct agreements with pharmaceutical companies, while low and middle countries lag behind.
”The slower and delayed vaccination rollout in low and middle-income countries has left many of the citizens vulnerable to COVID-19 variance. It leads to new surges of infection and also slower rates of recovery,” the statement said.
”Whereas most of the developed countries have already vaccinated over 60 percent and above of their populations, most developing countries are below 5 percent. You’ve just heard from ED NPHCDA that we’ve just vaccinated 6 million with only one jab,” he said.
He noted that it is important that developed countries support the efforts that are being made globally to ensure that there is equity and access to vaccines.
