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World Bank lending $300 million to speed up Philippines' vaccination rollout

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - The World Bank has approved a $300 million loan to help the Philippines scale up its vaccination program, the multilateral lender said on Wednesday. </p><p>The new funding also aims to strengthen the country’s health systems, and overcome the impact of the pandemic especially on the poor and the most vulnerable, the World Bank said.</p><p>“Fair, broad, and fast access to effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines is vital to save lives and strengthen economic recovery,” said Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. </p><p>Djop said the funding aims to help the country to safely reopen the economy and resume economic and social development activities, including face-to-face learning, that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>Approximately 27 million vaccine doses will be provided, subject to regulatory approvals and data on safety, through the new loan. </p><p>It will also finance primary doses for children under 12 in support of the country’s efforts to safely reopen schools.</p><p>Diop added that this new lending operation will also help the country’s efforts to address emerging variants like Omicron.</p><p>The loan is on top of the World Bank’s earlier $100 million funding approved in April 2020 to help the country meet urgent healthcare needs amid the pandemic, and the $500 million approved in March 2021 to finance the initial roll-out of the vaccination program.</p><div> </div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/07/21/world-bank-raises-ph-growth-forecast-to-53-percent">World Bank raises Philippine growth forecast to 5.3 percent for 2021</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/16/21/world-bank-unveils-93b-boost-to-fund-for-poorest-nations">World Bank unveils $93 billion boost to fund for poorest nations</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1865052" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The World Bank has approved a $300 million loan to help the Philippines scale up its vaccination program, the multilateral lender said on Wednesday. 