The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said wealthy nations have received approximately 87 percent of the world’s supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses with poor nations receiving as little as 0.2 percent of overall vaccine supply.
According to WHO, 1 in 4 people in high-income countries have received a coronavirus vaccine, compared with just 1 in more than 500 in low-income countries.
Speaking at the Spring Meetings, World Bank President, David Malpass, expressed concern over the limited access to vaccines by poor and developing countries.
“We have been pleased to see the rapid development of safe vaccines and their deployment in some poor countries, but we are deeply concerned about the limited access around the world,” said President Malpass.
To address and find a solution to the issue, President Malpass at the ongoing 2021 Spring Meetings announced the World Bank’s partnership with WHO, COVAX, GAVI, UNICEF and private Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, to help ensure that poor and developing countries have equitable access to the vaccines.
“We’re working closely with the international community, including WHO, GAVI, and UNICEF, and have conducted over 140 vaccine readiness assessments and we are working with countries to address challenges from cold chain and logistics to community outreach. We’re also supporting countries to access vaccines both through COVAX and directly from manufacturers,” added President Malpass.
According to President Malpass, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) will be making huge investments into vaccine production by manufacturers to help expand production, as well as increase the availability of medical equipment and critical supplies to poor and developing countries.
Commitments to vaccine production and other vaccine-related operations by the World Bank’s IFC, is expected to reach $4 billion by mid-2021.
