The summit which is teamed “Pushing Through The Last Mile To End The Pandemic And Build Back Better” is aimed at planning for the next health emergency, by drawing from the lessons of COVID-19.

Discussions are also expected to revolve around how to scale up the current responses to the pandemic including ongoing mass vaccination, surveillance, and screening at the various points of entry.

In attendance are the Senate president, Ahmed Lawan, along with other federal lawmakers, the SGF, Minister of Health and the diplomatic community.

The summit comes just days after the country detected the new COVID-19 strain – Omicron; after which Canada and the UK placed Nigeria, along with other Sub-Saharan African countries on Red Alert.

“We were not very happy when six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were placed on a red list and the WHO also advised against putting each other on the red list,” the minister said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, less than one day after the UK announced the move.

“From what we know about the COVID-19, there are many ways to manage it, and besides, not much is still known about the Omicron variant. We know, for example, that there have been no fatalities”.

Also speaking at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, Mr Mohammed described the decision as unjust and discriminatory.

The minister, however, called on the UK government to rescind their decision immediately.