Onyebuchi Ezigbo
The leadership of organised labour under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has appealed to the government to use the tool of persuasion and conviction rather than force to get workers and the general public to take COVID-19 vaccination.
It however encouraged Nigerian workers and eligible members of the public to take the COVID-19 vaccine as an effective remedy to avoid the associated sickness and hospitalization.
NLC urged the government and other employers of labour to adopt the strategy of persuasion and to make special arrangement for workers to access the vaccine at theit workplace.
Speaking at a media briefing to unveil the COVID-19 vaccination advisory for the federal civil servants in Abuja on Monday, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said that though the efficacy of vaccines for the control of COVID-19 has been scientifically proven, “the tool of persuasion and conviction be used rather than force to get workers and the general populace to take the vaccine”.
Against the background of the move by the federal government to enforce vaccination amongst its workers by setting December deadline, the NLC boss said that the congress would rather suggest the use of persuasion to attract greater patronage of the COVID-19 vaccination.
“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. I urge 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 coronavirus pandemic.
“We urge government and other employers of labour to make special arrangement for workers to access the vaccine at the workplace. We urge that the tool of persuasion and conviction be used rather than force to get workers and the general populace to take the vaccine,” he said.
Wabba said that COVID-19 pandemic has brought some of the biggest strains, stress and squeeze to the workplace, adding that housands of workers have died from the disease.
Wabba said: “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 the biggest lesson of the pandemic is that amidst the worst crisis, the human race can rise to the challenge with great resourcefulness and resilience.
According to him, apart from accelerated scientific efforts at understanding the epidemiology of the virus, science has raised the bar with the breakthrough discovery of the vaccine for COVID-19 which has helped reduce the death rate and hospital admissions.
He said that a study conducted by the United States Centre for Disease Control at the end of May 2021 showed that there was about 63% drop in hospital visitations after the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“There was also a 63% drop in hospital admissions post vaccination and 66% drop in mortality for those aged 18 – 49 after the vaccination.
“I understand some people prefer to view COVID-19 vaccination with caution. Yes, 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,” he said.
