Nepal, World Bank sign $75M agreement for COVID-19 vaccines

The Government of Nepal and the World Bank have signed an agreement for additional financing of $75 million to support access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for Nepal’s prioritised populations. The additional financing builds on the $29 million for the original COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project that was signed in April 2020. The project will be implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Population by the Department of Health Services and associated institutional bodies. About 90 per cent of the additional financing will support the purchase, supply and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. The rest of the financing will support existing public health measures to test, trace and treat the COVID-19 infection through a strengthened health system; community engagement and risk communication to improve the demand and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines; and project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and learning.