The Liberian Senate Tuesday mandated its Health Committee to cite authorities of the Health Ministry to provide details on the ongoing Ebola vaccines trial and report to the plenary Thursday.
The decision was taken following the reading of a communication from Bong County Senator Jewel Taylor dated February 2, 2015.
The letter was not debated, but raised concerns over details, protocols, procedures, and safety nets put into place by health authorities prior to the administration of the vaccine across the country.
“While we welcome international mediation to entirely end the health crisis, it is also paramount that the citizenry are well knowledgeable of the process and properly guarded against situations that could prompt another outbreak,” the letter indicated.
The letter also calls for critical examination of support given to volunteers against a situation where the citizenry could be injured without possibility of relief or support to their families or children.
The Ebola vaccine trial is in response to a request from the Health Ministry to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service to form a joint clinical research and partnership to accelerate the development of a vaccine to prevent Ebola.
The vaccines, the ChAd3-ZEBOV, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company, and the rVSV-ZEBOV, manufactured by Merck/NewLink in Canada, were recognized by a WHO panel at the most advanced stage of development.