The $50 million Project Grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Global Health supports the development of vaccines and therapeutics against COVID-19 through the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. The grant funds will be administered through the World Bank's Development Economics Vice Presidency to support the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations' (CEPI) efforts to finance research and development for vaccines against the COVID-19 virus in Norway.
The award is part of USAID's $98.001 million Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas program, which aims to promote long-term economic growth and further U.S. foreign policy goals through support for global health initiatives and humanitarian assistance. The grant to the World Bank will contribute to these objectives by bolstering the international response against the COVID-19 pandemic through CEPI's work financing vaccine R&D over the one-year period of performance from December 31, 2021 through December 31, 2022.