THE United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), would provide $3.5 million (about P169,494,500) to support the Philippines in its efforts to deliver vaccines this year.
In a speech at the “Philippines and US at 75: Strengthening Ties through Sustainable Recovery” event, USAID Acting Administrator Gloria Steele said the funds will be used to deliver Covax vaccines.
Steele said this would bring up USAID’s total Covid-19 support in the health sector, starting from last year, to $25 million, or approximately P1.25 billion.
“Our assistance will strengthen vaccine supply chains and support local governments to plan, track, and deliver vaccines. And it will help the Philippines’ Department of Health and local governments distribute essential public health messaging around the vaccines,” Steele said.
Finance officials said the additional funding from the USAID will be used to strengthen the vaccine supply chain and monitor vaccine safety. The funds would also be used to deliver effective communication campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines. The funds would support local governments in their efforts to plan, track and administer vaccines.
Apart from this, Steele said the US government is working with Australia and Japan to expand vaccine manufacturing in India and in other countries for use in Asian countries.
“The US Government is helping to expand global vaccine access. The USAID recently contributed an initial $2 billion to COVAX, or the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Initiative, and are committed to another $2 billion for next year,” Steele added. “And this is intended to increase the global supply of Covid-19 vaccines.”
“While the pandemic has tested our peoples and our economies, the strong bonds between Americans and Filipinos will help us rise above this challenge,” US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires John Law said at a vaccination site in Caloocan City that he visited last Thursday. “We will continue to fight this unprecedented global health crisis together.”
US government support for the Philippines’s Covid-19 response has helped the country implement internationally-recognized infection prevention and control strategies, strengthen laboratory systems and case management and communicate effectively about health risks.
Through the Covax effort—of which the United States is the largest donor—the Philippines will receive enough vaccines to immunize at least 20 percent of its population by the end of 2021.
Apart from addressing the pandemic and administering vaccines, Steele said the USAID will also support the Philippine’s digital transformation. This includes improving Internet connectivity and fostering innovation in order to strengthen cybersecurity and expand e-commerce. Steele also said the USAID will support the private sector’s role in expanding energy sector opportunities and energy efficiency investments. “To help achieve our target of $750 million in new investment in the energy sector, USAID will provide transaction advisory services to help close deals and secure investments,” Steele said. As of June last year, the USAID has extended $528.83 million in grants to the Philippines. This made the US the country’s seventh-largest source of Official Development Assistance (ODA).
The total ODA loans and grants received as of June last year was $26.21 billion. This is composed of $24.6 billion in loans and $1.61 billion in grants.
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