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(Sharecast News) - The World Health Organization claims that new loans and bonds could help fill a $28bn funding shortfall for combating the coronavirus pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, Bruce Aylward, a senior official at the WHO, said the new financing mechanisms including concessional loans and catastrophe bonds could be used to fill the gap in funding.

The Covid-10 funding facility called Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, would be used to provide poor and middle-income countries with diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines. It was set up last April.

"Right now financing is what stands between us and getting out of this pandemic as rapidly as possible," Aylward told a UN briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

"It's a real challenge in today's fiscal environment despite the fact that this is the best deal in town," Aylward said, referring to the ACT Accelerator facility. "This will pay itself off in 36 hours once we get trade and travel moving again."

He also said that the organization was in talks with drugmaker Pfizer to include its vaccine as part of an early global roll out.

There seemed to be a "strong commitment" on the part of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla to set low prices to help poorer countries be able to acquire the shots, he reportedly added.