MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines received a total of $ 900 million in loan commitments from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and to help the economy recover. hit by the pandemic, creditors said on Friday.
Despite registering one of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the region, the Philippines is trying to reach some of its neighbors in purchasing vaccines and was one of the last countries in Southeast Asia to receive its first doses.
“The acquisition and administration of vaccines provides the country with an additional layer of defense against COVID-19 in addition to public health measures,” said Ndiamé Diop, World Bank director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, in a statement.
The World Bank provided $ 500 million in financing for the purchase and distribution of vaccines and to strengthen the country’s health systems. In May, it granted a $ 500 million loan to help Filipinos who lost their jobs during the blockades.
Separately, ADB allocated US $ 400 million to the Philippines, the first beneficiary of its program to support access to vaccines.
The Philippines, which started its inoculation program on March 1 with 600,000 doses of Sinovac donated by China, is battling a further increase in cases of COVID-19.
The country, which aims to inoculate 70 million of its more than 108 million inhabitants, is in talks with vaccine manufacturers to buy 161 million doses.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Ed Davikes)