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The World Bank has approved an additional 130 million U.S dollars financing to Kenya for the purchase of vaccines. 

In a statement released on Tuesday, June 29, the World Bank stated that the additional financing will facilitate affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for Kenyans.

“This additional financing comes at a critical time when the Government of Kenya is making concerted efforts to contain the rising cases of COVID-19 infections and accelerate the deployment of vaccines to a wider population,” World Bank Country Director to Kenya, Keith Hansen said. 

The financial organization also added that the money will be used to procure more vaccines via the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) initiative and the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facilities. 

The loan will also support the deployment of those vaccines by boosting Kenya’s cold chain storage capacity—including establishing 25 county vaccine stores, strengthening the capacity of 36 sub-county stores, and equipping 1,177 health facilities with vaccine storage equipment.

Through the latest financing advanced to Kenya will fund training of health workers, vaccines surveillance and advocacy and communications activities to encourage COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

In 2020, the World Bank approved a Ksh5.36 billion financing to Kenya towards the fight against COVID-19.