ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today, Friday, approved a $500 million loan to help Pakistan procure and deploy safe and effective coronavirus vaccines and strengthen the country’s capacity to implement its vaccination program.
The ADB funds were announced just days after the World Bank said it would reallocate $150 million to Pakistan for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
“The [ADB] project will support Pakistan’s National Deployment and Vaccination Plan by purchasing and delivering an estimated 39.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, safety boxes, and syringes,” the Bank said in a statement. “It is financed through ADB’s $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility launched in December 2020 to offer rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to ADB developing member countries.”
The Pakistan government is aiming to vaccinate its entire eligible population, around 119 million people comprising ages 18 and over, prioritizing frontline health care workers, the elderly, marginalized groups including refugees and internally displaced persons, and people with comorbidities. ADB’s COVID-19 Vaccine Support Project will provide financing to vaccinate over 18 million people from priority groups or about 15 percent of the eligible population, the Bank said.
ADB’s assistance will also help to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, and the Federal Expanded Programme on Immunization to effectively implement the COVID-19 vaccination program.
The latest funding builds on ADB’s earlier support for Pakistan’s COVID-19 response. This includes a $300 million emergency assistance loan to strengthen Pakistan’s public health response, expand treatment of COVID-19 cases, and provide cash transfers to the poorest families. A $500 million COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support program loan was approved to support cash transfers to poor families adversely affected by COVID-19-related lockdowns and other government initiatives designed to alleviate the negative economic and social impacts of the pandemic. A $2 million grant under the Asia Pacific Disaster Relief Fund was provided to fund the immediate purchase of emergency medical supplies and equipment.
On Tuesday, the World Bank said: “The WB is fully committed to providing assistance to developing countries for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines and for the purpose $150 million has been reallocated for Pakistan.”
