Thread by @UgandaMediaCent

NOW: @henrymwebesa the Director-General @MinofHealthUG is responding to the @DailyMonitor Monitor Story, "Health Officials Hide Offer for Covid-19 Jabs" #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: A technical inter-ministerial committee also known as the ‘Vaccine Acquisition Committee was approved by a Cabinet sitting of July 19th 2021 #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: The committee was established to guide decisions with respect to the direct sourcing of vaccines. This committee is chaired by the Director-General of Health Services and assisted by the Chair of the Vaccines Advisory Committee #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: Other members include; representatives from @mofpedU, @UgandaMFA, Ministry of Security and @nmsuganda with the secretariat being the Immunization program #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: Specifically, the role of the committee is to review expressions of interest to supply the COVID-19 vaccines based on the following criteria;
•The profile of the company
•The relationship with the manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccines

@henrymwebesa:...
• The quantities that can be acquired through the agent
• The earliest date of delivery and the period within which the supplies can be received
• The unit cost per dose
• The modalities of payment, time frame and who to be paid #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: Cognizant of the need for COVID-19 vaccines in the country, a number of companies expressed interest to supply vaccines to the @GovUganda of between June and July 2021 #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: By end of July, a total of 10 proposals were submitted to the @MinofHealthUG. When the committee was instituted, they reviewed all the submitted proposals against an agreed criterion #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: However, none of the proposals had evidence of direct linkage with a manufacturer; which was a major requirement. This implied that these companies were intermediaries #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: It is important to note that no single company was given clearance to supply vaccines as has been alleged by the said article. Furthermore, no letter of intent was issued to any company #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: On 11th August 2021, the @MinofHealthUG received an offer of the availability of vaccines from the COVAX facility #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: The Vaccine Acquisition Committee reviewed the offer and recommended to Ministry of Health to pursue the offer, a cheaper and more reliable option #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: The Ministry of Health has since signed a commitment letter with COVAX facility for a total of 18 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine at a cost of $5.5 per dose under this arrangement #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: The Ministry would like to further clarify that the PS, @DianaAtwine is not a member of the above-mentioned committee,was not part of the decisions made by the committee and never pleaded for any private company as alleged #HealthUG

@henrymwebesa: Since they had all been disqualified in earlier meetings.The Ministry appeals to the media to refrain from publishing misleading articles without verification from the right authorities #HealthUG