[ 2021-03-03 ]

Parliament to roll out plan for vaccination soon
Parliament on Tuesday resumed for business from a
three-week shutdown over upsurge for Covid-19
cases, and would soon announce a roll out plan of
vaccination for Members and Staff of the House.








The House on February 10, 2021 closed down after
results of a screening test for the disease by the
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in
the House showed that 17 Members of Parliament
(MPs) and 151 Staff and ancillary workers were
infected with the virus.

Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Speaker of
Parliament adjourned the House until March 2,
2021, while the premises were disinfected and
sanitized.

The Speaker then asked the members and staff to
comply with the strict COVID-19 protocols and
regulations during the shutdown period and those
not tested to get tested for the virus in two
weeks.

Directing the shutdown, Speaker Bagbin asked that
by the end of the three weeks, the Appointments
Committee of the House, which was yet to begin
vetting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s
ministerial nominees should have finished and
submitted their reports on the vetting to the
House.

Welcoming the MPs and Staff to resume full
sitting, the Speaker announced that a retesting he
directed just before the House re-opened, and done
by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical
Research in which 550 MPs and Staff took part
showed 12 testing positive, representing 2 per
cent.

The Speaker directed that all MPs that had not
done the re-testing to do so and urged the House
and Staff to adhere strictly to the COVID-19
safety protocols.
He said: “Let us wear our nose masks
religiously.

“Let us wash our hands at the least opportunity
we get while in the House
“Let sanitizers be our companions, wherever we
find ourselves and maintain social distancing as
much as possible.”

Speaker Bagbin assured the House and the nation
that Parliament would not just adhere to COVID-19
protocols, but also would adopt proactive measures
that would ensure the safety of the House and all
who were required to engage with Parliament in
furtherance of the development of the country.

The Speaker sadly announced the death of Mr Robert
Apodolla, a former Deputy Clerk of Parliament, on
Friday, February 19, 2021, during the break, at
the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The House thereafter observed a minute’s silence
in memory of the late Apodolla.

Source - GNA

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