Ukraine will get a loan of about 150 million U.S. dollars from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to combat COVID-19.
The country’s finance ministry disclosed this in a statement.
According to the minister, the funds will partly be used to strengthen the public health system and support the urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic by purchasing COVID-19 vaccines.
“The money will also be spent on improving the logistics of COVID-19 vaccines, training medical staff and promoting vaccination, among other measures taken to contain the pandemic.
“With a population of around 42 million, Ukraine has recorded more than 3.57 million COVID-19 cases and 91,602 deaths during the pandemic.”
So far, some 40 per cent of Ukrainian adults have been fully vaccinated.
In May, the IBRD allocated 90 million dollars to help Ukraine combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This new additional financing will help Ukraine continue strengthening its COVID-19 response and vaccination activities.’’
World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe, Arup Banerji stated that Ukraine still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe and as such, is paying a high economic and human price, particularly with the emergence of new virus variants.
“Therefore, scaling-up procurement and deployment of vaccines, combined with measures to detect incidence and address vaccine hesitancy, are critical.”