UK assures Nigerian health authorities that she will not moved to Covid-19 red list

BRITAIN has assured the federal government that under no circumstances will Nigeria be added to the red list of countries whose citizens face severe restrictions when they visit the UK as they are happy with the nation’s vaccination programme.

As part of its easing down programme, the UK has introduced a traffic light health structure with countries placed on green, amber and red lists.  Nigeria is on the amber, which is not as good as the green list, which gives citizens the all-clear but it is not as bad as the red list which bars Britons from travelling to those countries for leisure purposes and subjects them to certain quarantine measures of they have to visit them for any reason.

Nigeria is not deemed safe enough to make the green list, which is made up of nations that include Portugal, Gibraltar, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, plus several small remote islands that are British Overseas Territories. Among the countries on the red list are Brazil, India, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and the Maldives, from where returnees must stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £1,750.

Dr Faisal Shuaib, the executive secretary of Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), recently revealed that the UK has said it is happy with the types of Covid-19 vaccines being administered in Nigeria. He added that as a result, London is not considering imposing any further restrictions ion Nigerian travellers as the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine being administered in Nigeria is recognised by the UK.

Dr Shuaib said: “We would like to clarify that the guidance provided by the UK government is that they would want to simplify the classification of countries from green, amber and red to just red and green list. Therefore, countries that are currently on the amber list may fall into either of these two categories.

“We have had preliminary discussions with officials of the UK government. Without prejudice to the information yet to be released, we have been assured that Nigeria will maintain the status quo, that is to say Nigeria will not be on the red list.

“The UK government has also stated that they have no issues with the vaccines used in Nigeria. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, also known as Covishield that is used in Nigeria was approved by the UK regulatory body, other stringent regulatory authorities and the World Health Organisation, so, the UK government does recognise the vaccines used in Nigeria.”

He warned that anyone caught with a fake Covid-19 vaccination card without having received the vaccines, would be prosecuted as criminals. While condemning the fraudulent selling and buying of fake vaccination cards, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said his organisation was already collaborating with anti graft agencies and other security outfits, to launch an investigation and prosecute anyone found culpable.