Loans worth $900 million were secured from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, separate statements from both agencies said. Broken down, ADB will contribute $400 million, while the World Bank grants a larger $500 million. Separately, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said: “COVID-19 vaccines are critical to accelerating the recovery of the Philippine economy, rebuilding livelihoods, and restoring quality jobs. So far, the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination on health workers and other front-liners has been using around 1.4 million doses of donated vaccines from China and the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access or COVAX facilities led by the World Health Organization. Loans to go directly to suppliersUnder the plan, the ADB and World Bank loans will not be directly handed out to the government.

Source: Philippine Star March 12, 2021 06:00 UTC