A Nigerian official criticised a travel ban by the British government amid fears about the new Omicron variant as 'punitive, indefensible and discriminatory'. 9News
Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Saturday added Nigeria to the UK's travel "red list," which means that arrivals from there will be banned except for UK and Irish residents. He said there was a "significant number" of Omicron cases linked to travel with Nigeria, with 27 cases recorded in England.
"Instead of these reflex responses that are driven by fear, rather than science. Why can't the world take a serious look at the issue of access to vaccines, and ensure that it is based on the principles grounded in the right of every human to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, political belief, economic or any other social condition?" Mohammed said.
Only about 3.78 million of Nigeria's 206 million people have been fully vaccinated so far. But Enahire said the situation in the country is under control, adding that the government is able to access 100 million doses. Last week, Nigeria also approved boosters for the fully vaccinated. Ehanire called a travel ban "an extreme step" that Nigerian authorities are not going to take now "because we know that the virus somehow gets around and we do all we can to make sure that we reduce the rate at which carriers enter our country."
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