The Federal Government has warned that buyers and sellers of COVID-19 vaccination cards will be punished.
It stated that to increase patronage and coverage in vaccination rate, it has begun the process of decentralisation of vaccination activities by incorporating private facilities.
It assured Nigerians that vaccination will be free. The only fee to be incurred will be for the registration form.
Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr. Faisal Shuaib stated yesterday in Abuja during a briefing. He said: “We are cognisant of the fact that some unscrupulous elements would want to get the card and not the jab. We are working with relevant security agencies to make examples of these individuals, who may wish to buy or sell the cards by naming and shaming them. We are also enhancing the security features of our vaccination cards in order to limit forgeries.
“In line with the NPHCDA commitment to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine uptake, the agency has put in place plans for the establishment of mass vaccination sites across the country. The objective of this strategy is to vaccinate a high volume of individuals through large sites such as Federal institutions (universities, polytechnics), shopping malls, religious centers, sporting events, conference centres, and markets etc. This will require strong collaboration between NPHCDA, state governments, religious bodies, school authorities and governing bodies of malls and large sporting events.
“As we expand the vaccination sites, we encourage all eligible Nigerians to avail themselves for vaccination. I am also glad to inform you that we have commenced the process of decentralising COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria, to include private health care providers. This is to expand access and increase utilisation of the vaccines.
“The decentralisation will not affect the Federal Government’s free vaccination policy. COVID-19 vaccines will be administered free of charge at both government and private health facilities and the vaccination cards should be given free of charge after vaccination. We acknowledge the fact that private health facilities may need to charge for their hospital registration cards which is different from the COVID-19 vaccination cards.”
