The US supplied three million extra doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan on Wednesday for public distribution.
The immunizations were administered in collaboration with the COVAX facility and UNICEF, according to the US Embassy in Islamabad.
1/3 Today, the United States was pleased to donate three million doses of the life-saving Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to the Government of Pakistan for distribution to the Pakistani people. These vaccines were delivered in partnership with the COVAX facility and UNICEF. pic.twitter.com/2hGC0Vgv25
— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) July 29, 2021
The vaccine is part of an 80 million dosage supply that the US is sharing with the rest of the world, fulfilling our commitment to ensure equitable worldwide access to safe and effective vaccines, which are critical to ending the COVID-19 epidemic.
At a ceremony, US Embassy Chargé d’affaires Angela Aggeler handed over the doses to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.
“We are here today to encourage access to COVID-19 vaccines for the populations that need them the most,” stated Aggeler during the event.
“These three million pills are in addition to the 2.5 million doses that the United States donated to the people of Pakistan earlier this month. These immunizations, which are sourced from our own domestic vaccine supply, are a concrete proof of President Biden’s vow – and our commitment – to stand with Pakistan’s people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
Through our collaboration with Pakistan, the US has provided more than $50 million in COVID-19 assistance. Since the outbreak, the US and Pakistan have collaborated to promote infection prevention and control, improve patient care, increase laboratory testing, disease monitoring, and case tracking across all districts, and support frontline healthcare workers. The US government sent the Pakistani people 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine earlier this month, for a total of 5.5 million doses from the US vaccine supply.
Separately, the United States has provided $2 billion to COVAX through USAID, making it the single greatest contributor to COVID-19 vaccination availability worldwide. As part of the COVAX programme, Pakistan has received 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine since May.
