World Bank and COVAX to accelerate vaccine access for developing countries

The World Bank will provide financing for COVAX to purchase vaccines from manufacturers

COVAX will now be able to make advance purchases from vaccine manufacturers based on aggregated demand across countries, using financing from the World Bank and other multilateral development banks.

“Accessing vaccines remains the single greatest challenge that developing countries face in protecting their people from the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “This mechanism will enable new supplies and allow countries to speed up the purchase of vaccines. It will also provide transparency about vaccine availability, prices, and delivery schedules. This is crucial information as governments implement their vaccination plans.”

The World Bank's agreement with COVAX, which is backed by the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi), will help low- and middle-income countries access additional doses of vaccines, on top of the fully-subsidised doses they are already receiving.

Countries with approved World Bank vaccine projects that confirm the purchase of additional doses through COVAX will agree with COVAX on the number of doses of a specific vaccine as well as related windows of delivery. On receiving a request from the country, the World Bank will provide COVAX a payment confirmation, allowing COVAX to make advance purchases of large amounts of vaccine doses with manufacturers at competitive prices.

Vietnam has received more than 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from countries and partners, including 8.6 million doses of AstraZeneca, 2 million doses of Moderna, and 194,200 doses of Pfizer. The country also received 7.4 million Moderna vaccine doses and 2.4 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses through COVAX.

Under the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) cost-sharing arrangement, COVAX plans to make available up to 430 million additional doses, or enough to fully vaccinate 250 million people, for delivery between late 2021 and mid-2022. There will be several supply offerings where Vietnam and other AMC countries will have the opportunity to select and commit to procuring specific vaccines that align with their preferences.