Africa needs $12 billion for vaccines to interrupt Covid-19 transmission, says World Bank

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The World Bank estimates that Africa would need about $12 billion for Covid-19 vaccines and their distribution to attain sufficient levels of vaccination coverage to interrupt virus transmission, according to new paper by the bank and the IMF.

The paper argued for a further extension of the Group of 20's debt service moratorium through year-end, noting the continued high liquidity needs of developing countries and their deteriorating debt sustainability outlooks.

Read | G20 likely to extend debt moratorium for poorest nations, says World Bank chief

It said the amount of money Africa needed to interrupt transmission of the virus was about the same as the total amount of official debt service payments already deferred by 45 of the poorest countries participating in the G20's Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).