MANILA: The ability of developing countries in Asia to fight the coronavirus pandemic has received a much-needed boost with the announcement of a US$9-billion fund by the Asian Development Bank to help access and deliver vaccines.
“As ADB’s developing members prepare to vaccinate their people as soon as possible, they need financing to procure vaccines as well as appropriate plans and knowledge … to manage the vaccination process,” ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa said in a statement on Friday.
Called the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (Apvax), it will provide support for procurement and transporting of vaccines from the place of purchase to developing countries, as well as investments in distribution systems, such as cold-chain storage and processing facilities.
The ADB financing will be provided in coordination with other partners including the World Health Organization. It may also be tapped to develop or expand vaccine manufacturing capacity in developing country members, the Manila-based bank said.
The ADB said it was also making available a $500-million vaccine import facility to mitigate payment risks and facilitate imports of vaccines.
Asian countries are racing to lock in millions of vaccine shots so they will be able to start inoculating their citizens and begin the long road back to normality and help their economies recover from the damage of the pandemic.
Developing Asia is on course to post an economic contraction this year, but probably less than previously thought as China recovers faster than expected, although the prolonged pandemic remains a risk to the outlook, the ADB said on Thursday.
This year’s expected contraction would be the region’s first in nearly six decades.
For 2021, the region is still forecast to recover and grow 6.8% from a low base, the ADB said, as Asian economies gradually revive from the pandemic that has infected more than 14.3 million people and killed more than 200,000 in Asia and the Pacific.
