The World Bank announced Wednesday that it is providing over 4 billion US dollars for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines for 51 developing countries, half of which are in Africa.
According to a statement posted on the global financing institution's website, more than half of the financing comes from the International Development Association, the Bank's fund for the world's poorest countries, and is on grant or highly concessional terms.
Since the start of the pandemic, read the statement, "the World Bank Group has approved more than 150 billion dollars to fight the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic."
The financing package is flexible and countries can use the money to acquire doses through COVAX, the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), or other sources, it said.
The finances can also be used to strengthen the health systems such as vaccine cold chains, training health workers, data and information systems, and communications and outreach campaigns to ensure vaccination acceptance.
According to the statement, the World Bank is partnering with the African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) to support the AVATT initiative with resources to allow countries to purchase and deploy vaccines for up to 400 million people across Africa.
The bank is also convening a task force with the International Monetary Fund, World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation and other partners to track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries, it added.
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