American people have so far donated 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh with the last shipment of 3.5 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, said the US Embassy here on Wednesday.
“We hope this enables young people, especially students, to protect themselves from Covid-19 and safely resume their studies and social lives more fully,” said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller.
Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use among children ages 12 to 17.
Following a trial in Manikganj, the US-donated Pfizer vaccine jabs will enable the government of Bangladesh to roll out vaccination for young people in this age group.
“We’ve also provided specialized training to hundreds of Bangladeshi health workers to help them safely administer these Pfizer vaccines among children ages 12 and up,” said the US envoy.
This delivery of Pfizer vaccine jabs is part of the broader commitment by the United States to lead the global Covid-19 response by providing one billion doses of Pfizer vaccine around the world—free of charge—through 2022.
In addition to vaccine donations, the United States continues to work closely with Bangladesh to support the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign and strengthen the government’s response to the pandemic.
The United States has provided training for more than 6,000 service providers and healthcare professionals to help them administer vaccines safely and efficiently and protect the health of Bangladeshis.
The US government has contributed over $121 million in Covid-related development and humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh through the US Agency for International Development, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of State, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The United States has donated $4 billion to support the worldwide COVAX effort, which includes support for ultra-cold chain storage, transportation, and safe handling of Covid-19 vaccines, making the United States the world’s largest donor for equitable global Covid-19 vaccine access.
Source: United News of Bangladesh