World Bank says US must free up excess COVID vaccines for LA

"These next few weeks are vital, that in particular the U.S. frees up excess (vaccines) to go to programs that exist. We're ready to take them tomorrow in the three countries that I mentioned and by two weeks from now in more countries within Latin America," he told a briefing, referring to Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras.

Malpass also said that the World Bank now has $12 billion in COVID-19 vaccine financing available and will have approved vaccination financing operations in over 50 countries by the end of June.

He added it was "vital that we speed up the supply chain for vaccine distribution," including shortening the manufacturing time, approvals and allocations of doses that have already been produced.

Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization top emergency expert, said the situation in South America remained of very high concern.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, the second Chinese-produced shot to get its endorsement, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the same news conference.

He welcomed the move, calling the vaccine safe and effective and noting its easy storage requirements make it suitable for low-income countries.

"It's now crucial to get these life-saving tools to the people that need them quickly," he told a briefing.

WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators on a product's safety and efficacy. It would also allow the shot to be included in COVAX, the global programme to provide vaccines mainly for poor countries, which currently faces major supply problems due to India's suspension of vaccine exports.

The head of the International Monetary Fund said it envisaged grant financing for $35 billion of a proposed $50 billion project needed to ramp up global vaccinations against the coronavirus.

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, was speaking alongside the heads of the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organization.