The government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are discussing the possible tapping of the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (Apvax) to help finance the former’s procurement of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines next year.
According to the Manila-based multilateral lender, the $9-billion facility offers rapid and equitable support to its developing members as they procure and deliver such vaccines.
It also provides a framework and resource envelope to support developing Asia’s vaccine access, using two complementary components. The first, the Rapid Response Component, will provide support for critical vaccine diagnostics, procurement and transportation; and the second, the Project Investment Component, will support investments in systems for the successful distribution, delivery and administration of the vaccines, along along with associated investments in building capacity, community outreach, and surveillance.
“Under the facility, the Philippines can access somewhere around $400 to $500 million.
What we’re doing is going through costings with them and they will decide how much they want to borrow. But the facility has ceilings on countries based on population,” Kelly Bird, ADB country director for the Philippines, said during a briefing on Wednesday.
“We are committed to supporting [the Philippines’] financing vaccine procurement. This is clearly going to be one of the most important initiatives next year,” he added.
According to the ADB, Apvax promotes safe and effective vaccines to be accessed in a fair manner. These must be procured through the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, prequalified by the World Health Organization and authorized by a regulatory authority.
