Lebanon Allocates LBP 26.4 Mln for Second Batch of Vaccines

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab signed a decree on Friday to transfer an appropriation from the general budget reserve to the budget of the Ministry of Public Health with a value of LBP 26.4 million to purchase the second batch of coronavirus vaccines.

Under the contract signed between the two parties, Lebanon has booked 2.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from multiple international companies, adding to the 2.1 million vaccines that Pfizer will provide.

This came to pay the second payment of the contract signed on Oct. 20 between the Ministry of Public Health and the COVAX platform of the World Health Organization, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.

[caption id="attachment_202047" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab during a press conference[/caption]

COVAX is formally known as the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, a global collaboration for speeding up the development, manufacture and equitable distribution of new vaccines.

Meantime, the Lebanese pound was ranked as the most undervalued currency in the world, according to researches. An analysis published by The Economist showed through the Big Mac Index that the sandwich costs 68.7% less in Lebanon at $1.70 against $5.66 in the US in January.

Today, the Lebanese parliament approved a law that paves the way for the government to sign deals to vaccinate against the Coronavirus. The law would grant Pfizer-BioNtech, and other company providing vaccines to Lebanon, protection from any future claims of liability for a period of two years.

Yesterday, Lebanon began a strict 11-day lockdown and new travel restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Latest precautionary measures include a 24-hour curfew until January 25 after some hospitals started to run out of beds to treat new cases.