Skip to main content

ECOWAS Parliament tasks Parliamentarians to dispel Covid-19 vaccine conspiracy theory

From Linus Aleke, Marceline Ozekhome;Sierra Leone The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis has tasked Members of Parliament to assist governmet in the sub-region to dispel the toxic conspiracy theory that limit citizens of the community from accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. He said that the discovery of the vaccine is a stunning scientific achievement, and a much-needed source of hope. The Speaker who gave this charge at the official opening of the 2021 First Extraordinary Session of ECOWAS Parliament in Freetown, said that there is the challenge of vaccine hesitancy within the population, due to conspiracy theorists. "This would require the efforts of everyone, to educate our constituents on the safety and benefits of getting vaccinated once it is available. We must continue this campaign until such a time when we would have attained Herd Immunity," he said. Hon. Tunis recalled that a year ago, the world came to its knees as a result of the emergence of a new virus that sparked a global pandemic. He said: "Movements were halted, our way of life redefined, economies crumbled, hospitals and health systems got overwhelmed, lives were lost and hearts were filled with uncertainty. "One year later, we are celebrating the development and approval of safe and effective vaccines after the emergence of a new virus. This is a stunning scientific achievement, and a much-needed source of hope. "I join other world leaders to commend the scientists and researchers for such brilliant and robust intervention at a time when the world needed it most. "I also commend the Governments and Philanthropic Organizations that invested huge resources towards the development of the new vaccine entities". He noted that while the world celebrate the development of vaccines, the parliamentarians are not insensitive to the new level of challenge that comes along, which is the emergence of the disparity between rich countries and poor nations who cannot procure for themselves. "Nevertheless, we thank the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission and France for bringing together Governments, Global Health Organizations, Manufacturers, Scientists, Private Sector and Civil Society Organizations, as well as Philanthropists, with the aim of providing innovative and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, through the COVAX initiative. "This effort has proven to be a truly global solution to this pandemic, as it aims to ensure that people in all corners of the world get access to COVID-19 vaccines once they are available, regardless of their wealth. "In our region, a few countries have started vaccinating their citizens. We are hopeful that other countries will join in as soon as possible," he said. While declaring the First Extraordinary Session open, the President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Julius Madda Bio said that West Africa must strengthen healthcare and disaster management structures so that our societies are not easily amenable to future shocks. He disclosed that through proactive leadership and cooperation across states, the Community has kept case fatality ratios to very low levels. According to the President, "Our resilient and indomitable spirit has served us well in our sub-region’s fight against COVID-19. "Some of our countries have eased restrictions on the movement of people within and across borders. We are now transitioning to a new phase in which we heighten prevention and protection protocols while we roll out vaccines. "Our countries have received some vaccines, thanks to the support of our various partners and international bodies. "I urge this august assembly to add its strong collective voice to appeals for redressing vaccine disparity and to fully support efforts to procure, supply, and administer safe and efficacious vaccines throughout our sub-region". He added that, "As nations in our community recover from the impact of COVID-19, I urge this body to support and cooperate on imbuing resilience and sustainability into our recovery and rebuilding efforts. "We must rebuild our economies mindful that there may be new possibilities, but equally so, lurking uncertainties with which we must contend. We must identify growth sectors and new opportunities in our post-COVID economies and leverage investments in areas that propel sustainable economic growth and inclusive development".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reject List From Countries In breach Of 30 Percent Women Representation – Njai Tells ECOWAS Parliament

A Gambian representative to the ECOWAS Parliament, Honorable Fatoumatta Njai has challenged the Community Parliament to reject list of countries that are short of thirty percent women’s representation to the Parliament. Speaking in an exclusive interview at the official Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Legislature’s delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Social Affairs, Gender and Women Empowerment / Education, Science and Culture/Health, currently holding in Monrovia, Liberia on the theme, “ Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region.” Njai said that some countries lack female representation in the Conference of Bureau, this according to her is disregarding the ECOWAS Rules of Procedure. “The Rules of Procedures mentioned that each member country should have a female representation at the Conference of Bureau. Each country has three members in the Conference of Bureau, so each country can at least have one female member which will be thirty percent representation. I thin...
Post a Comment
Read more

IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW SIM REGISTRATION RULES

Following the earlier directive on the suspension of new SIM registration by network operators, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) convened an urgent meeting of key stakeholders in the Communications industry on Monday, December 14, 2020.   The meeting had in attendance the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as well as the CEOs and Management staff of all service providers in the industry.   At the meeting, the need to consolidate the achievements of last year’s  SIM registration audit and improve the performance and sanity of the sector was exhaustively discussed and all stakeholders agreed that urgent drastic measures have now become inevitable to improve the integrity and transparency of the SIM registration process.   To this end, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

25 Years After Beijing Declaration, It's time for action, not rhetorics_ECOWAS Speaker

The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mohamed Sidie Tunis has reiterated the need for concrete and deliberate actions on Women Empowerment, 25 years after Beijing Declaration, Speaker Tunis, who was on his way to Liberia for the Delocalised meeting on Women’s Empowerment, made this declaration on Monday 12 April, 2021 at the Mano River Bridge, when he was received by a delegation, consisting of ECOWAS staff and journalists. He said there couldn't have been a better venue for the Delocalised meeting than Liberia. This he said is against the backdrop of Liberia’s serial feats of electing women into prominent political positions. "Liberia is the most suitable country to host the Delocalised meeting on Women Empowerment because it was Liberia that blaised the trail in 2015, with the election of Africa's First Female President, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson. "Few years later, another woman was elected Vice President by Liberians." According to the Speaker, this is...
Post a Comment
Read more