The World Bank said it has approved 14 billion shillings (about 130 million U.S. dollars) additional financing to help Kenya facilitate affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The lender said in a statement released on Monday that the financing will enable Kenya to procure more vaccines through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) initiative and the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facilities.
Keith Hansen, World Bank country director for Kenya, said the additional funding comes at a critical time when Kenya is making concerted efforts to contain the rising cases of COVID-19 infections and accelerate the deployment of vaccines to a wider population.
“The upfront financing for the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines will enable the government to expand access to more Kenyans free of cost,” Hansen said.
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The financial assistance will also be used for vaccine safety surveillance, training for health workers, and advocacy and communications activities to encourage COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
The East African nation has so far confirmed 282,884 total COVID-19 cases, 124,588 recoveries and 3,612 deaths as of Monday.
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