World Bank, African Union join forces to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines

FILE PHOTO: A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. ChristoWASHINGTON: The World Bank and the African Union said on Monday they would work together to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations for up to 400 million people across Africa, bolstering efforts to vaccinate 60 per cent of the continent's population by 2022.

In a joint statement, the World Bank and the African Union said their agreement would provide needed resources to the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team initiative, allowing countries to purchase and deploy more vaccines.The initiative will complement efforts already underway by the COVAX vaccine-sharing programme, which is co-run by the World Health Organization .

The new World Bank initiative comes amid shortages caused in part by manufacturing delays and Indian supply disruptions, with cases and deaths rising as a third wave of infections sweeps across Africa. "The World Bank is very pleased to support African countries through this partnership with the African Union to quickly provide hundreds of millions of doses," World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement."Countries urgently need more pathways for acquiring vaccines that match their needs and have early delivery schedules.

No details were immediately available on the cost of the initiative, but the funds will come from the US$12 billion the World Bank has made available for vaccine financing and distribution. The Bank said it expects to be supporting vaccination efforts in 50 countries, two thirds of which are in Africa, by the end of June.

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