Senegal is one of the West African countries most affected by Covid-19, with 41,581 confirmed cases. To accelerate the acquisition of coronavirus vaccines, the country will receive $134 million in funding from the World Bank. To defeat the pandemic and avoid a further slowdown in its economy, the country wants to accelerate its vaccination campaign, but faces difficulties in accessing the vaccine. This will be done with the financial support of the World Bank. The funds, half of which are made up of a grant from the International Development Association (IDA), aim to facilitate the purchase and deployment of coronavirus vaccines, benefiting 35% of the Senegalese population, while an additional 20% will benefit from the Advance Market Guarantee Facility for Covid-19 vaccines (AMC COVAX) which subsidizes the costs of vaccine deployment.

"Senegal has been seen as a model in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and this project reinforces the government's efforts by providing the necessary funding to support vaccine procurement and accelerate roll-out efforts in the country," said Nathan. Belete, World Bank Country Director in Senegal. For his part, Mr. Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, Senegalese Minister of Health and Social Action, welcomed "the World Bank's reaction to the submission of the request for additional resources to further support the response to COVID-19". In total, the project will help immunize nearly 9,500,000 people, or about 55 percent of the country's population, the World Bank said.