Nigerians who refuse to be vaccinated should get ready to be sanctioned, the Muhammadu Buhari regime announced on Tuesday, stating that citizens who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine were endangering the lives of others.

“If some individuals refuse to take the vaccine, hence endangering those who have or those who could not due to medical exemptions, then we have to apply the basic rule of law which stipulates that your human right stops where mine begins,” the Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, said at a briefing in Abuja.

Mr Shuaib said efforts were in place to ensure that vaccines are made available to civil servants and corporate entities.

He vowed that the basic rule of law will be applied for eligible citizens who refuse vaccination. Once the vaccines are available to all Nigerians, “we would need to have a frank discussion about justice, fairness and liberty that exist around vaccine hesitancy,” he said.

While many have not received the vaccine due to poor road access and inability to locate health centres, many do not trust the government and health authorities.

As the third wave of the pandemic ravages the world, Edo state last week announced that only vaccinated residents would be given access to large gatherings.

“I have come out with the following regulations, beginning from the second week of September 2021, large gatherings as well as high traffic public and private places will only be accessed by persons who have proof of taking at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine,” the governor Godwin Obaseki had said.

On August 16, Nigeria launched the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja. Currently, the country has a total of 191,805 confirmed cases, with 178,492 recoveries and 2,455 deaths.