World Bank on Friday made known it has approves the sum of USD400 million for the procurement of affordable COVID-19 for about 40 million of Nigerians and to also boost effective deployment of the vaccine about 110 million Nigerians.
In the media statement released from Washington by World Bank on Friday (October 1st 2021), the $400 million dollar was described as credit for Nigeria from its International Development Association (IDA), and as additional financing for covid-19 vaccine project in the country.
It further explained that the additional financing would not only allow Nigeria purchase and deploy COVID-19 vaccines, but strengthen relevant health systems that are necessary for a successful deployment and to prepare for future health emergencies.
For Nigeria to break the chain of covid-19 transmission and limit the spread of the virus, the World bank advised the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure expansion of covid19 vaccine programs to the unserved and underserved areas of the country and equitable access, the statement said.
It reads in part, “Critically, it will permit the acquisition of vaccines to support Nigeria’s objective of having access to vaccines under the right conditions of value-for-money, regulatory approvals, and delivery time, among other important features.
“This will ensure that the government meets its plans to vaccinate 51 per cent of its population in two years.”
Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, said as the Nigerian government continues to tackle the effect of a third wave of the pandemic, it was crucial to continue to vaccinate citizens in addition to the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions.
This, he said, was to avoid the dreadful consequences of another lockdown that left in its wake an economic toll the country was still grappling with.
“This additional funding would ensure that the Nigerian government has the necessary financial resources to keep its vaccination drive going. This would mean that Nigerians will have increased access to the COVID-19 vaccination.”
Mr Ayodeji Ajiboye, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project, said recognising that there was currently an excess in demand for vaccines from both high-income and lower-income countries, the additional funds would let Nigeria acquire the vaccine at the earliest.
He said it would strengthen the capacity of all states and the Federal Capital Territory to deploy the vaccines.
“It will also strengthen the country’s health system interventions, such as enhancing health-emergency response capacity of health workers, cold chain equipment, disease surveillance, data management and use, and laboratory testing for the long-term.”
The bank recalled that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had deployed over $157 billion dollars to fight the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic, the fastest and largest crisis response in its history.
Similarly, it also said that it was supporting over 50 low- and middle-income countries, more than half of which are in Africa, with the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and was making available $20 billion dollars in financing for that purpose until the end of 2022.
