Following repeated requests from Board members for better Bank collaboration with COVAX to improve vaccine supply, the World Bank and COVAX have announced a collaboration enabling the 92 (LIC/LMIC) Advance Market Mechanism (AMC) countries to purchase vaccine doses with World Bank financing beyond the fully donor-subsidized doses they are already receiving from COVAX.
Based on the agreement, COVAX will now be able to make advance purchases from vaccine manufacturers based on aggregated demand across countries, using financing from the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. The new mechanism will mitigate risks and uncertainties in country demand and financing ability. Countries with approved World Bank vaccine projects that confirm the purchase of additional doses through COVAX will agree with COVAX on the number of doses of a specific vaccine as well as related windows of delivery. Upon receiving a request from the country, the World Bank will provide COVAX a payment confirmation, allowing COVAX to make advance purchases of large amounts of vaccine doses with manufacturers at competitive prices. Participating developing countries will have greater visibility of available vaccines, quantities available, and future delivery schedules, enabling them to secure doses earlier, and prepare and implement vaccination plans more effectively. The scalable mechanism brings together COVAX’s ability to negotiate advance purchase agreements with vaccine manufacturers and the World Bank’s ability to provide predictable financing to countries for vaccine purchase, deployment, and broader health systems investments.
Under the cost-sharing arrangement for AMC countries (92 low- and middle-income countries), COVAX plans to make available up to 430 million additional doses, or enough to fully vaccinate 250 million people, for delivery between late 2021 and mid-2022. There will be several supply offerings where countries will have the opportunity to select and commit to procuring specific vaccines that align with their preferences.
The good news were announced in the following press release : https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/07/26/covax-and-world-bank-to-accelerate-vaccine-access-for-developing-countries.