MANILA, Apr 26 (NNN-PNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), today said, it approved 18.9 million U.S. dollars in grants, to help four developing member countries in the Pacific, in rolling out safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19.
The Manila-based bank said, the grants to Samoa (eight million U.S. dollars), Tonga (5.5 million U.S. dollars), Tuvalu (1.5 million U.S. dollars), and Vanuatu (3.9 million U.S. dollars) will support their COVID-19 vaccination programmes, for a combined population of almost 600,000.
“These countries have incurred considerable costs, in preventing COVID-19 transmission, and their health systems have been put under extreme pressure,” ADB President, Masatsugu Asakawa, said, in a statement.
“These grants will provide a platform to introduce safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in these countries, strengthen health systems to receive and administer the vaccines, and raise community awareness about vaccination timetables,” he added.
As of Mar, 2021, the ADB had committed more than 750 million U.S. dollars, including co-financing and technical assistance, to support Pacific countries’ response to the pandemic.
According to the World Health Organisation, Vanuatu has three confirmed COVID-19 cases, while Samoa has one. Tuvalu and Tonga have no cases.– NNN-PNA
