KATHMANDU: The World Bank (WB) has agreed to provide with USD 75 million to the government of Nepal in additional financing agreement to procure COVID-19 vaccines.
An agreement was inked by Ministry of Finance Secretary Sishir Kumar Dhungana on behalf of the government of Nepal and the World Bank Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos to provide the support to help the prioritized population of Nepal to access safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19.
On the occasion, Secretary Dhungana said that additional financing was important and timely support to the government of Nepal in its vaccination drive.
According to him, the support would enable the government to vaccinate at least 72 per cent of the Nepali population.
He further said this would help the government’s health response to the pandemic, by supporting procurement of COVID-19 vaccines as well as strengthening health systems for their effective deployment as per the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan.
About 90 per cent of the additional financing will support the purchase, supply and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.
Similarly, Country Director Faris Hadad-Zervos asserted that the equitable and fast access to effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines is vital to save lives and support a resilient recovery from the pandemic.
The additional financing builds on the USD 29 million for the original COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project that was signed in April, 2020.
Comment