Philippines secures $ 250 million ADB loan for COVID-19 vaccines

MANILA, Dec. 13 (Reuters) – The Asian Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $ 250 million loan to the Philippines for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, it said in a statement on Monday.

The AfDB said the loan would allow the government to purchase an additional 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for eligible children and boosters for adults.

The Philippines aims to fully immunize at least 54 million people, or nearly half of its 110 million people, by the end of the year.

To achieve this goal, he plans to organize a second three-day mass vaccination campaign from December 15. It has so far fully immunized 39.2 million people as of December 7.

New daily cases in the Philippines have remained below 1,000 since November 24, a sharp drop from the peak of over 20,000 at the end of September that put strain on the fragile health system in the Asian archipelago from the South East.

The improving COVID-19 situation in the Philippines has allowed her to gradually reopen the economy and temporarily resume face-to-face classes.

Reporting by Karen Lema Editing by Ed Davies

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