Additional Financing Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) - Sierra Leone COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project Second Additional Financing - P177850 (English)

The PDO of the parent project and the AF2 will remain the same, as will the components for the AF2. [...] SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Substantial Environmental Risk Rating Substantial The AF2 environmental risk rating is assessed as substantial because of the scale and nature of the vaccine roll-out operations, the sensitivity of the receptors (threat to human health and risk of transmission of the infection) and the [...] The project does stand to benefit from the experience of the government and MOHS in dealing with infectious diseases in the past, with reference to ebola in 2014/2015, but the comcomitant deployment of Ebola, polio and the sheer scale of the COVID-19 vaccine programs could further strain and overwhelm an already overstretched limited capacity, facility and resources. [...] But this needs to be ramped up including ensuring synergies between the social mobilization teams and the vaccination teams in sequence, and of the collaboration with the DHMTs, DICOVERCs, and traditional leaders in engaging communities to promote the COVID-19 coverage for the AF2. [...] General Assessment ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project: Both the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Preparedness.