COVID-19: Extortion, intimidation mar vaccination at Lagos centres

This is because, despite assurances of the State and Federal government that the vaccines should be given at no cost, cost is gradually being attached to it at some centres in Lagos.

Besides the financial extortions being perpetrated at some of the centres, queue-jumping, bad internet, shortage of Green cards is rampant.

Also, the quest by the health providers to satisfy friends, relatives and top government officials and allies, are gradually marring the process. 

Sadly, the happenings are not expected in a state like Lagos as the epicentre of the pandemic.

It is no longer news that the past 12 months have been rough for the country in all aspects of life.

As of 8th of November 2021, 212,765 cases have been recorded in Nigeria with 2,906 deaths and 204,261 discharged.

In Lagos,  a total of 77, 896 has been recorded with 754 deaths. 

Nigeria, like many African countries may have been spared the worst of the pandemic, but critical health watchers say any life lost remains tragic.

According to statistics from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, the Federal Ministry of health, Nigeria needs to vaccinate almost 112 million eligible persons to attain herd immunity against COVID-19. 

However, a visit to some vaccination centres in Lagos amid growing cases of vaccine apathy among Nigerians was a revelation. 

Findings by Good Health Weekly  revealed that unsuspecting Lagos residents are being forced to pay to receive the vaccines by unscrupulous government health officials who  demand money in the guise of fast-tracking the services.

A visit to some vaccination centres revealed that unwholesome practices were going on. It was  discovered that charges from as low as N500 to as much as N10,000 were being demanded from those who wanted to be jabbed. The payments are not receipted.

At the centres visited, there were no uniform charges and the attitude of some of the officials were unsavoury.  Several exhibited a lackadaisical approach to their duties, either reporting late or being impolite to clients.

At some of the centres visited, the processes were  marred by irregularities of sorts, ranging from the internet server being down, out-of-stock for vaccination (green) cards, etc.

Critical stakeholders  expressed fears that these sharp practices may further deepen vaccine apathy in the country. They say plans by the Lagos state government  to vaccinate at least four million residents by December 2021, may be thwarted by the extortion and unnecessary delays by service providers at some of the vaccinating centres.

A case in point is the Ikate Primary Health Centre in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos where the norm is that the highest payer gets vaccinated first.

A visit to the vaccination centre was a revelation. Extortion is the order of the day. 

Anyone willing to play ball is quickly attended to at the expense of others that are forced to wait on the queue for hours.

Sometimes, residents are forced go back home after waiting for almost a whole day under the guise that they have exhausted the vaccines or serve is down.

No one is spared. Both the young and the elderly who, against all odds, came to be jabbed are forced to go back home in frustration.

Some of the eligible persons who had visited the centre narrated their experiences to Sunday Vanguard.

Sunday 29th of August, 2021, will remain evergreen in the hearts of many residents of the area who besieged the centre to get jabbed.

These residents stayed away from Sunday worship unfortunately, they were disappointed.

Narrating her experience, one of the residents who simply identified herself as Bola described her experience as a nightmare.

“I was booked for an afternoon session through the online platform to be vaccinated but was not attended to even though she was at the centre an hour before 12:00 noon.

“I struggled to put down my name on the list since I had booked the previous day but I was not even allowed in and eventually, by 12.00pm, we were told that none of those registered for the afternoon session could be vaccinated because the doses had been exhausted. We were told to return the next day being Monday.”

But what baffled Bola and the others who were still hanging around was  that some persons were walking freely into the facility beyond the open areas where the other residents where and were vaccinated right inside the facility.

“When I asked one of them after she came out, her exact words were: ‘Stop begging and find a way to sort them out.’ But I refused, I was disappointed and decided, alongside 28 others, to return the next day, the 30th of August.

However, Bola and the others arrived between 6.00- 6:30 am the next day but got the shock of their lives when one of the officials told them they won’t be attended to that morning.

“We shouted and pleaded because most of us were dressed for work but our pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Eventually they started with the Monday list and stopped at number 15 and the others had to wait under the scorching sun to be vaccinated.”

According to Bola, there was apprehension and many people resorted to paying the vaccinators sums ranging between N5,000 and N10, 000 in order to be vaccinated that morning.

Most of the illegal transactions were being done through the centre’s perimeter fence. 

“One of the ladies wearing a brown dress who also sells drinks goes through the fence and a nurse too.

I can still remember a woman in blue scrubs who writes the card – she wears glasses. She is the key negotiator for the woman that is called the big madam who wore pink scrubs. She was said to be the coordinator.

According to Bola, some of people who went Sunday and returned Monday morning left by afternoon to report for work out of frustration and the fact that many of us couldn’t afford to pay the exorbitant tips they were demanding for vaccines that are supposed to be free. Meanwhile fresh arrivals had gained access from nowhere.

Another, resident who pleaded anonymity told Sunday Vanguard that most of the cards were carefully sneaked out from inside already filled and two young men will leave others and stylishly update them and they are vaccinated without a minute’s wait.”

For her, it was two days of unnecessary torment. She said keeping a large number of people together for a long time without vaccinating them could also aid the spread of the virus the people have come to prevent.

“Except the government is not prepared for this process, the situation will discourage others.”

The situation is not different at the Alimosho General Hospital as people were forced to part with N500 to N1000 to quicken their chances of being vaccinated early.

However, pandemonium broke out when a woman who reportedly arrived around 6:30 am protested the frustration and humiliation of her and other Lagosians who left their homes early to get vaccinated and have also refused to fall victims of extortion by officials of the vaccination centre.

Around  2:00 PM on 21st October 2021, when Good Health Weekly arrived at the centre, vaccination officers had divide the people present  for vaccination into two groups – one for AstraZeneca, the other for  Mordena.

People were meant to write their names according to the specific vaccine they received as the firdt dose, while newcomers were also advised to put down their names too.

When newsmen arrived the venue, 27 persons had been administered with Astrazeneca and 20 for Mordena.

Everything went fine  until, without explanation, the names of late comers  were being called before those that arrived early. 

There was no explanation for this  development and protests soon broke out. A middleaged woman who was among the early arrivals who identified herself as Alhaja, angrily challenged the health workers.

She accused them of  collecting money to favour late comers at the expense of the early callers. Alhaja’s outburst caused an uproar at the centre and sparked other allegations. 

All explanations by the workers that the delay was caused by the poor internet server, fell on deaf ears. 

It became a free for all. The environment was tense.  Hot exchanges continued between two health workers, Alhaja and another of the waiting women.

There was confusion amid attempts by the others to settle the discord between the aggrieved parties. The vaccination exercise ended abruptly as the vaccinators said everyone should leave the centre. the excuse was that the medical director of the hospital ordered stoppage of the exercise.

An aggreived client, Amos, told Good Health Weekly that the situation was shameful.

“I came here for my second jab and luckily I was attended to before trouble started. This is a show of shame. 

It will further discourage other Lagosians who would want to come for vaccination and doubts about the vaccines will persist.”

The situation at other centres was similar. At the Gbagada General Hospital centre, there were no observed  cases of financial exploitation, however, the issue of ‘who knows who’ remained a challenge.

Precisely on September 29th 2021 when our correspondent visited this centre for her second jab, it was rowdy and there were claims that the server was again down.

Vangaurd observed that some of the vaccination cards of those receiving their second jab were not  screened or signed before their owners were vaccinated. 

Due to the rowdiness and poor arrangements early callers were left waiting for several hours before being attended to even as some persons were told to return by afternoon.

In several centres visited, the exercise usually begins at 10:00 am rather than the official time of 8:00 am announced by the state government

At the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, one thing prominent is bad interent.  Most people who spoke to our correspondent also complained about late commencement of vaccination.

However, it is not all gloomy as more Lagosians have picked the courage to get vaccinated against the early doubts and fears occasioned by conspiracy theories.

At the Mother & Child Hospital, Festac by 1st Gate, the process was an epitome of orderliness. Both vaccinators and residents organised themselves in an orderly way.  There was no case of extortion or other sharp practices but one complain is the fact that they stop vaccinating before the closing time.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu had pledged that the core of the campaign in Lagos was to strengthen vaccine equity to ensure that every Lagos resident has a fair chance to fully access the vaccine regardless of who they are or where they are from which is key to seeing the unbearable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

These Lagosians are worried that with the preferential treatment given to people who part with some money to officials at the centre, Sanwo-Olu’s promise for equity and fairness may have been defeated.

Sanwo-Olu had emphasised that the vaccines administered in the state’s public health facilities would remain free.

The Governor further said while the vaccines remain free as they were contributed by the Federal Government through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NPHCDA, and other donors, except in private facilities where a charge of N6, 000 was approved for the administration of the vaccines. 

According to him, the fee was to allow the private sector recoup the resources deployed in the process of administering the vaccine doses. He urged all Lagos residents to visit the listed public facilities to receive the vaccines at no cost to them; however, those that wish to receive them in the comfort of a private facility can do so at the administrative cost.

When Good Health Weekly contacted the Permanent Secretary Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Ibrahim Akinwunmi Mustafa, who acknowledged claims of financial inducement at the beginning of the vaccination exercise said the state government will expel any adhoc staff caught extorting money from Lagosians while staff of the ministry will face the full weight of the law according to civil service rules.

In a telephone chat, Mustafa said: “We heard about such claims at the initial stage of the vaccination exercise.

“Our investigations then showed that it was miscreants lurking around the entrance of the area, but you know our people don’t want to wait for anything rather they are looking for fast services.

So unscrupulous people capitalised on it and these are not the people you can get hold of.

“Again, most of the vaccination officers are not our staff but again we cannot say they are equally innocent. 

“We have set up a patrol team that goes around the centres to monitor for such things.  We have warned them that  anyone caught will be dealt with.

“These are adhoc staff they were just engaged for a short time to do the vaccination exercise. Those once, if we get them we will expel them immediately.”

However, a total of 1.2 million Lagosians have been vaccinated with the first dose of either AstraZeneca or Mordena  while 550,000 have been fully vaccinated accounting for just about four per cent of the target population.

However, the implication according to medical experts is that vaccine hesitancy will not only threaten COVID-19 response but prevent Nigeria from achieving herd immunity.

Stakeholders are of the view that for the Campaign which commenced Wednesday 27th October 2021 through December 25th, 2021 to be successful, the government needs to monitor the process and ensure that corrupt officials at the centres are brought to book and stopped from pulling down the process.