Covid-19 Resurgence: Government Sets New Rules for International Travellers

Amid a resurgence in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federal Government has stated all travellers arriving Nigeria must now provide evidence of COVID-19 vaccination at the point entry.

The Director of Port Health Services, Geoffrey Okatubo, said this on Monday during a media briefing at the Ministry of Health in Abuja.

Okatubo stated that the port health services had heightened surveillance at points of entry following the reported surge in the cases of COVID in countries like China, Japan, and the United States.

He also revealed that unvaccinated passengers arriving from other countries may have to be vaccinated at the airport.

He said: “Port health services has resumed checks of passengers’ vaccination status and will provide traffic data on inbound passengers from all over the world.

“All international travellers arriving Nigeria are now to provide evidence of vaccination at point of entry and it was agreed that unvaccinated passengers arriving from other countries may have to be vaccinated at the airport.

“The Minister of Health also recently approved that port health services should meet with other stakeholders such as the NCDC, and the ministry of aviation over the use of rapid diagnostic testing at points of entry.”

Also speaking at the briefing, Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said as of January 20, 2023, Nigeria has fully vaccinated 65,176,784 persons with the vaccine, while 77,070,988 eligible persons have taken at least one dose of the vaccine.

Shuaib disclosed a total of 10,390,911 persons have received booster doses.

In December 2022, the federal government had relaxed COVID-19 rules in the country. The government also said pre-departure and post-arrival PCR test requirements for all persons who are not fully vaccinated have been suspended.