The World Bank has announced to provide an additional fund of $153 million to Pakistan to support its vaccination program.

In a press release issued on Friday, the international financial institution said that the payment will be made under the Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP) that was approved in April last year.

“The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the restructuring of the Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP) project, originally approved in April 2020, to redeploy $153 million to support the ongoing national vaccine drive in Pakistan.”

The program has been redeployed at the request of the federal government, it said. The project will strengthen the health system’s capacity to implement the vaccination campaign for its prioritized and eligible populations.

“The third wave of COVID-19 emerged in Pakistan in March 2021 and is threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people,” said Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.

“The World Bank remains a committed partner to support Pakistan in addressing this public health crisis, including through vaccination, and providing support to tackle the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.”

Pakistan started its coronavirus vaccination drive on February 2, after receiving the first batch of the SinoPharm vaccine. Since then, the country of over 220 million has administered first doses to over 2.93 million people and has fully vaccinated to nearly 964,000 people or 0.4 % of its population.

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) plans to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of this year.