The finance, approved last week, will support Ethiopia’s efforts to scale up the availability and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide with particular emphasis on reaching rural areas and vulnerable communities, the Bank said.
Furthermore, it will support the rehabilitation of public health facilities damaged by the conflict in different parts of the country.
“This timely financing will bring sustainable support to Ethiopia’s overburdened health system,” said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Eritrea, Ethiopia.
The fund will also “help reduce the spread and impact of COVID-19 by scaling up vaccine roll-outs throughout the country with the goal of doubling the country’s vaccination rate, which currently remains below 30%,” he added.
Specifically, the project will support the procurement of additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines, hospital intensive care unit (ICU) equipment to further improve the management of severe cases of COVID-19 and other illnesses.
Training of community health workers, and rehabilitation of primary health care units damaged by the conflict throughout the country are also a part of the project’s activities.
These activities are geared towards helping Ethiopia’s efforts to achieve 60% COVID-19 vaccination coverage by the end of the 2023 calendar year. As of May 2022, nearly 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered throughout the country.
The latest additional financing complements the preceding $495 million IDA support to the sector for the country’s overall COVID-19 response.
