With almost half of the population having completed their vaccination scheme and the easing of restrictions allowing greater flexibility in social and economic activities, Argentina is beginning to feel a change in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national vaccination plan recently received a new boost with US$500 million financing from the World Bank, which will allow the purchase of some 40 million vaccines to cover almost 30 percent of the population and complete the vaccination schedules in adults and move forward with teenagers.
In 2020, Argentina was one of the first countries to receive support to face the pandemic. Less than 30 days after the first COVID-19 case was identified in the country, the World Bank approved an emergency loan for US$35 million. This financing was used to purchase supplies, medical equipment and to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, mainly on the most vulnerable.
The new vaccines project is key due to the uncertainty that new variants of Covid-19 pose and the need to diversify access to vaccines due to the difficulties of guaranteeing supplies.
The project also foresees activities to support the implementation of the national vaccination plan, such as training for health and technical assistance personnel, along with monitoring and follow-up activities for those vaccinated. Additionally, the financing includes communication actions to encourage target population to get vaccinated and activities to close gender gaps.
In Argentina, the World Bank is a long-term partner in the health area and has worked for several decades together with the Ministry of Health to strengthen health services for the most vulnerable population, in programs such as Plan Nacer, Plan Sumar, the Essential Public Health Functions and the most recent: Effective Universal Health Coverage.
Protecting lives and improving access to quality and equitable health care throughout the country is one of the central objectives for Argentina to develop in an inclusive and sustainable way.
