WASHINGTON – The World Bank on Wednesday pledged to boost available funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment to $20 billion from a previous …
WASHINGTON – The World Bank on Wednesday pledged to boost available funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment to $20 billion from a previous target of $12 billion, citing a sharp increase in overall financing demand from developing countries. World Bank President David Malpass said the global development bank had already provided more than $4 billion to 51 developing countries for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, and would add billions for 25 more countries soon. “Much more will follow in coming weeks,” Malpass told reporters, noting that a total of 41 requests had been received from African countries, where less than half the population has been vaccinated. In a joint statement https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/06/30/pr21201-joint-statement-heads-wb-imf-who-wto-first-meeting-task-force-covid-19-developing-countries, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization urged G20 countries to embrace vaccinated population targets of at least 40% by the end of 2021 and 60% by the first half of 2022.
