IN addition to the US$20 bil (RM86.5 bil) of quick-disbursed loans offered to developing member countries in Asia on April 2020 in attempts to help them battle the effects of COVID-19, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) allocated US$25 mil to help the Philippine government purchase COVID-19 vaccines.
The US$25 mil will be part of the US$125 mil Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 project that ADB approved of on Aug 24, last year.
The newly allocated funding for vaccine supply will follow the vaccine access and eligibility requirements under ADB’s Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX), which was launched on Dec 11, 2020 with a financing commitment of US$9 bil for the region.
Currently, the Philippines has over 500,000 COVID-19 cases reported.
“The Philippines launched a comprehensive economic stimulus and healthcare support program following the surge in COVID-19 cases in April 2020. It has significantly improved its capacity in testing, tracing, isolating, and treating COVID-19 cases in the last 10 months,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
“Vaccination is the next critical step to protect lives and promote livelihood opportunities,” he added.
To complement the US$25 mil financing, ADB is preparing a follow-on project under APVAX for consideration by ADB’s Board of Directors to support the government’s efforts to procure vaccines. – Feb 1, 2021
