World Bank approves US$100 million for vaccine deployment in Tunisia
The Tunisian government aims to vaccinate 50% of its population by the end of 2021.
JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (ANA) – The World Bank has approved US$100 million in additional financing for Tunisia’s Covid-19 response project to enable affordable access for citizens to vaccines in the North African country, according to Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
The publication reported on Tuesday that this would assist the Tunisian government to implement its strategy to vaccinate 50% of its population by the end of 2021.
The majority of the additional financing will help pay for the purchase and deployment of several million doses of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, through Covax or directly from manufacturers, provided they meet World Bank vaccine approval criteria.
“The World Bank is mobilising resources to support Tunisia in this critical effort to deploy the Covid-19 vaccine,” said Tony Verheijen, the World Bank country manager for Tunisia.
“After a year of suffering through this health crisis, compounded by an unprecedented social and economic crisis, the vaccine offers hope to save many lives, end this deadly pandemic and start a new chapter where Tunisia can build back stronger in the years ahead.”
TAP also reported that the strategy would start with high-risk health workers as well as people aged 75 years and above.
The first group will be followed by other health workers, people between 60 and 75 years of age, essential workers in the public and private sectors, as well as people with chronic conditions, before rolling out to people between 18 and 60 years old.
According to TAP, the additional financing expands the World Bank’s Tunisia Covid-19 response project, which was approved on April 30, 2020.
On March 13, Africanews reported that medical staff in the capital Tunis had received some of the first Covid-19 jabs in the country’s vaccination campaign.
At the time, Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi received 30,000 Sputnik V doses in Tunis.
The government had previously announced that it was expecting more than 93,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca/Oxford jabs from mid-February, but delivery under the UN-led Covax scheme was delayed.
In its latest update, Tunisia reported 251,169 Covid-19 cases, with 215,920 recoveries and 8,760 deaths.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
Photo: Pexels/Cottonbro
