How Much Is Needed For the Zika Virus Vaccine, Senate GOP Aims On Resolving The Health Crisis

By Alexandra Park | Apr 21, 2016 05:41 AM EDT

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Zika has caused much anxiety for the society ever since it was detected and its effect rendered impact on a global scale. Also, the senate GOP has affirmed their decision to fund the Zika virus to counter its affect, the question that lingered is the amount of money needed to eradicate the health dilemma.

Democrats say top GOP lawmakers are proposing to partially fund President Barack Obama's request for money to fight the Zika virus and the $1.1 billion measure circulating Wednesday comes in advance of an Appropriations panel meeting on Thursday and was being worked on with Democrats in hopes of winning their support, reports The Washington Post.

Although negotiations are underway, there is still no assurance that the funding will be attained. The money would be used to try to slow the spread of the Zika virus and develop a vaccine against it, and the Republicans controlling Congress have increasingly come under pressure to respond to Obama's $1.9 billion request to combat Zika, which can cause grave birth defects such as microcephaly and is expected to worsen in coming months, according to the same post.

One of the key negotiators for the bill Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash said, "I am very hopeful they are coming to the table and we'll see what happens in the next 24 hours."

While top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California added, "It's not just about the timing, which is critical. It's also about where this money is coming from. The supplemental is an emergency doesn't need to be offset by accompanying spending cuts. The threat is real and the need is rising. Even BBC reported that 2.2 billion people are located in risky areas where the Zika virus thrive.

Other comments came from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and he said, "It's an important issue. We're in discussion with them about how much do they really need. They have taken our suggestion and transferred some of the Ebola money. And I don't think that in the end there will be any opposition to addressing what we think is going to be a fairly significant public health crisis."

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