World Bank approves US$6M for Guyana’s COVID-19 response
The World Bank funds are intended to help strengthen local health system functions that are necessary for immunisation
The World Bank funds are intended to help strengthen local health system functions that are necessary for immunisation

THE World Bank has approved US$6 million in additional financing for the Guyana COVID-19 Emergency Response Project.
The funds, according to the bank, will go towards supporting affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and ensuring that there is effective vaccine deployment in Guyana.
“The project will also support general preparedness, resilience, and overall health system strengthening,” a press release from the World Bank stated.
The document also quoted Ozan Sevimli, World Bank Representative for Jamaica and Guyana, as saying: “An efficient and equitable rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will be critical to save lives and restore economic activities in Guyana.”
She added: “The World Bank is closely coordinating with development partners and Government of Guyana counterparts to support the vaccination campaign, and long-term improvements to the country’s healthcare system.”

The World Bank said that it has recognised the socio-economic impact that the pandemic has had on countries such as Guyana, including job losses, which disproportionately affect women.
The institution said that the funds provided are intended to help the Government of Guyana strengthen health system functions that are necessary for immunisation. These include vaccine awareness communication, human resources, information systems, and waste management.
“The additional financing to this project also aims to increase overall health system preparedness to tackle future emergencies,” the World Bank said.
The bank explained that the original project was approved in November 2020 to support Guyana’s pandemic response and strengthen the country’s health system.
The statement specified, too, that at least US$5 million of the additional financing approved this month, comes from the International Development Association (IDA). Guyana receives interest-free financing from IDA, with a maturity of 40 years, including a grace period of 10 years.

The additional US$1 million is part of a grant from the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank Group has committed over US$125 billion to fight the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic, the fastest and largest crisis response in its history. The financing is helping more than 100 countries strengthen pandemic preparedness, protect the poor and their jobs, and jumpstart a climate-friendly recovery. The bank is also providing US$12 billion to help low- and middle-income countries purchase and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments.
So far, Guyana is one of the very few countries that have enough vaccines to immunise its entire adult population.

And with the Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon’s “reckless” and “damaging” claims that the Sputnik V vaccines being administered in Guyana are possibly fake, it is likely that the government will have to intensify its public awareness campaign to provide accurate information, and to promote the need for vaccination. Fortunately, this recent World Bank provision caters for such efforts. Already, in excess of 460 persons have died as a result of the novel coronavirus which has been sweeping through the entire world for more than a year now. Guyana was first hit by the virus in March 2020, and since then, authorities have been battling to ensure adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines, and to promote the vaccines as a means to an end.

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