Provide Enough Funds To Procure COVID-19 Vaccines

The Senate has asked the Federal Government to provide enough funds to procure COVID-19 vaccines for Nigerians.

The request follows a point of order raised by the Chairman Senate committee on health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe.

The Senate on Thursday also resolved that its committee on health should meet with the Ministers of Health and Finance, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 as well as the NCDC and NAFDAC to discuss modalities to procure the vaccine.

In a similar vein, the Senate has declared as urgent, the need to deal with the outbreak of a strange ailment said to be Yellow Fever, ravaging Epeilo-Otukpa and Itabono-Owukpa communities in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State.

Senator Abba Moro drew the attention of the Upper Chamber to the emerging medical issue after which the Senate on Wednesday resolved to:

Urge the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Arbovirus and Vector Research Centre (NAVRC) to investigate each case and respond to outbreaks;

Ask the Federal Ministry of Health to mobilize focal persons to the are to quickly complement the efforts of the Benue State Government to ascertain the nature of the ailment;

Implore the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to promptly take action to contain the disease and see to the treatment of victims and protect others from further contracting it;

Further compel the Nigeria Centre for Disease Contro (NCDC) and the Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), to synergize and support the people of Benue South Senatorial District and in particular, the Epeilo-Otukpa and Itabono-Owukpa communities to treat, prevent and or reduce the number of cases and deaths;

Also urge the Federal Ministry of Health to immediately activate and set up a multi-agency yellow fever Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in Benue South, should the result come out positive for yellow fever, to conduct mass vaccination and awareness campaigns in Benue South Senatorial District, being that yellow fever is a completely vaccine-preventable disease as a single shot of the yellow fever vaccine protects for a lifetime; and

Ask the Federal Government to approve a special grant to tackle the strange ailment in research and providing remedial solutions.