The below is attributable to Spokesperson Rebecca Chalif:
Yesterday, Administrator Samantha Power participated in a virtual fireside chat with David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, at the World Bank Spring Meetings high-level event on Scaling up Vaccine Deployment. They discussed global efforts to turn COVID-19 vaccines into vaccinations, including recent country successes in driving up vaccination rates and examples of progress from USAID’s work in the field. They also discussed what actions are now demanded of all stakeholders, especially to address critical COVID-19 vaccine financing gaps.
They discussed how countries and partners must come together to develop practical solutions to address vaccination financing challenges, including coordination and a shared standard for the donor community to ensure responsible donations of COVID-19 vaccines to reach our global goals. Both USAID and the World Bank hope to see an increased commitment to confront challenges to mobilize sufficient financing toward the 70 percent COVID-19 vaccine coverage target. Such commitments are timely in the leadup to the second Presidential Global COVID-19 Summit on May 12.