Washington D.C, 30 July 2022 (TDI): The World Bank has approved $10.1 billion worth of operations for COVID-19 vaccines in 78 countries. The operations will begin on 30 July 2022.
As of June 30 2022, @WorldBank has approved operations supporting COVID vaccine rollout in 78 countries, amounting $10.1b. We’ve financed 617m doses, 433m of which already delivered. We’ll continue to accelerate purchase, delivery & administration. https://t.co/yt7rNY3LoM pic.twitter.com/QhyyrRZXoo
— World Bank (@WorldBank) July 30, 2022
In order to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank is collaborating with its allies on the largest vaccine campaign. The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors adopted a $6 billion Global COVID-19 Reaction Program.
The program was adopted on April 2, 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 response phase. The response phase is also known as the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Program, or SPRP.
The program reached over 100 countries with emergency activities to counter COVID-19 and build public health preparedness systems.
The World Bank Board granted an additional $12 billion in funding to the SPRP for underprivileged states on October 13, 2020. It was an effort in recognizing the need for COVID-19 vaccinations and allowing for their purchase and distribution.
In 2021, World Bank President, David Malpass announced an increase in funding for the COVID-19 vaccine to $20 billion over the period of 18 months.
Also Read: World Bank funds COVID-19 vaccines for South Africa
Need for more Covid-19 Vaccinations
Vaccinations continue to be the most crucial instrument for aiding every nation in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Since February, the majority of the world’s focus has been on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the world’s food and energy crisis.
The war has overshadowed a number of issues like climate change, political conflicts, refugee crises, global inflation, including COVID-19.
COVID, however, has notably wide-ranging health, social, and economic implications, especially for the poorest countries and most vulnerable individuals.
The coronavirus pandemic affected the whole population globally for more than two years. Vaccinations have been provided to all the developed and underdeveloped countries to counter this virus. But there is still a need for more doses for complete vaccination.
According to the Our World in Data statistics, nearly 67% of the world population has received the first dosage of the vaccine. This shows the need for more doses to be provided to the rest of the population.
