WORLD BANK OKs $12B FOR COVID-19 VACCINES FOR POOR NATIONS

The World Bank (WB) said its executive board approved a $12 billion in new funding for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments for their citizens, Reuters reported.

The financing plan, part of $160 billion in total resources that the multilateral development lender has pledged to provide to developing countries through June 2021 to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic, was first reported by Reuters in late September. 

WB said the financing program will include technical support to recipient countries so they can prepare for deploying vaccines at scale, and will signal to drug companies that there will be strong demand and ample financing for COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries. 

The funding for developing countries is expected to intensify the race for the development of a vaccine against the dreaded virus, which has killed more than one million people worldwide, more than 216,000 of them in the United States.