Sri Lanka signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a loan of $150 million to purchase vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and improve vaccination information, delivery, and monitoring systems, said the country’s Finance Secretary on Saturday (10).
On the 08th of July, the ADB h approved a loan of $150 million for Sri Lanka.
The project is part of ADB’s $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) launched in December 2020 to offer rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to ADB developing member countries.
The ADB loan will help finance the purchase of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines to immunize about 4 million Sri Lankans, contributing to the government’s target to reach 80% vaccine coverage by 2023.
In addition, the project will support the upgrading and establishment of new systems to monitor vaccine deployment, supplies, and logistics, as well as track real-time beneficiary data for an efficient response to the pandemic.
Vaccines eligible for financing must meet at least one of the APVAX eligibility criteria: the vaccine has been selected for procurement through the COVAX mechanism; the vaccine has been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) or WHO emergency use listing; or the vaccine has received regular or emergency licensure or authorization by a Stringent Regulatory Authority.
The project will support the establishment of sewerage systems in secondary care hospitals, and incinerators and waste segregation facilities in 12 satellite hospitals to safely dispose of vaccine-related medical waste.