RWANDA – Rwanda has received funding worth US$32 million from the World Bank Group in an effort to help accelerate the country’s ongoing inclusive and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

The new funding will support Rwanda under the country’s COVID-19 Emergency Response project designed to help the government prevent, detect and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness.

Rwanda Covid-19 Emergency Project is part of the World Bank Group US$14 billion fast-track package to strengthen the COVID-19 response in developing countries and shorten the time to recovery with an aim to strengthen the national systems for public health preparedness.

The immediate COVID – 19 response includes financing, policy advice and technical assistance to help countries cope with the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, World Bank reports.

World Bank financing to Rwanda will support the procurement of an international vaccination status monitoring system that is interoperable with global platforms to ensure acceptance and recognition of Rwanda’s COVID-19 digital certificates.

The funds will also be used to finance numerous activities aimed at increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake including the purchase and deployment of vaccines especially those with authorization for use among children.

World Bank Country Manager for Rwanda Rolande Pryce explained that the additional financing will support the government’s decision to expand COVID-19 vaccination coverage to the population under 18 years of age.

“World Bank financing to Rwanda will help the government advance from the initial target of 60 percent met in March 2022 to 86 percent of the population (from 5 years and above) by the end of 2022,” said Rolande Pryce.

She further said that the World Bank advocates for the long-term benefits to the health system with the inclusion of the interoperability of the information systems, the efficiency in the use of energy and the protection to the environment.

Egypt receives 1.5 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Meanwhile, Egypt recently received 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from the United States (US) to aid the ongoing efforts in inoculating the people against COVID-19.

The delivery comes during the holy month of Ramadan at a time when millions of Egyptians celebrate Ramadan with their friends and family thus the vaccines will enable adults to celebrate without fear of putting their loved ones at risk.

The US Government has also partnered with its agency for International Development to provided more than US$55 million to benefit 18 million people in support of Egypt’s coronavirus response.

The agency’s programs have provided training to healthcare workers in an effort to improve tracking, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the virus along with delivering much-needed vaccines to the Egyptian people. 

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