Stuck with 24m doses, Health ministry seeks Shs652b for Covid jabs

Noelyn Nassuuna | April 21, 2022

The Health Ministry’s asking of Shs652b to, among others, buy Covid-19 vaccines when it has failed to administer more than 24.8 million donated doses already in the country, has exposed it to a tighter scrutiny.

Line minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, usually a level-headed bureaucrat, yesterday christened as “stupid” journalists who barraged her with accountability questions for the Shs560b that her ministry got in the 2021/2022 Financial Year to procure Covid-19 vaccines.

Appearing before Parliament’s Health Committee on Tuesday, a day after Health Ministry announced that the country’s last two hospitalised patients had been discharged, Dr Aceng said: “These resources (Shs652b) are needed to procure vaccines and related supplies, storage and distribution [of] vaccines and logistics and other operational costs.”
She did not disclose the number or type of the vaccine they intend to buy, or why they want to procure more when some of the unused stock in the country is nearing expiry date as early as next month.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna