Nigeria has secured a $400m credit loan from the World Bank to boost COVID-19 its vaccination programme.
The Board of Directors of World Bank approved the credit alongside financing from the International Development Association.
A statement titled ‘Nigeria scales up its COVID-19 vaccination with new funding for vaccine purchase and deployment’ and published on the bank’s website on Friday contained this.
The statement read in part, “The government of Nigeria today received approval from the World Bank Board of Directors for a $400m credit in additional financing from the International Development Association to provide upfront financing for safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine acquisition and deployment within the country. This will be implemented as part of the COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project.
“The additional funding is designed to ensure COVID-19 vaccination of 40 million Nigerians, increasing the rate of vaccination to up to 50 per cent.
“Building on the government’s plan to break the chain of local transmission of COVID-19 and limit the spread of the virus, the original COVID-19 response programme will be expanded to enable equitable access to purchase affordable COVID-19 vaccines for 18 per cent (40 million) of Nigeria’s population and support effective vaccine deployment to 50 per cent (110 million) of its citizens.”