$50m ADB grant supports COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Afghanistan

The Asian Development Bank has approved a $50 million grant to Afghanistan to procure and deploy safe, high-quality COVID-19 vaccines, and strengthen the country’s capacity to implement its vaccine program. 

The project will support the vaccine roll-out by procuring and transporting six million doses for priority segments of the population, as determined by the government. The project is financed by ADB’s $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility, launched in December 2020, to offer rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to ADB developing member countries.

The government aims to vaccinate all eligible people including vulnerable groups, approximately 60% of the total population. ADB’s COVID-19 Vaccine Support Project will provide financing to procure vaccines for at least 2.6 million people, or about 11% of the eligible population, including through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Advance Market Commitment facility.