The United States donated an additional 10 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh, a gift from the American people, said a press release of the US embassy in Dhaka on Monday.
Delivered via COVAX, these donations of Pfizer vaccines bring the total US government vaccine contribution to more than 38.6 million doses, with millions more scheduled to arrive over the coming months, the release added.
“With the latest spike in COVID-19 infections, the United States is redoubling our efforts to help Bangladesh turn the tide against this surge. These doses will help expand vaccinations for students and those who are awaiting their first doses, while enabling vulnerable people to receive boosters to protect themselves against the growing presence of the Omicron variant,” said U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Helen LaFave.
This delivery of Pfizer vaccines is part of the United States’ commitment to lead the global COVID-19 response by donating a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine around the world 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 to over 7,000 healthcare providers on the proper management and administration of vaccines.
To date, the United States has contributed over $121 million in COVID-related development and humanitarian assistance through USAID, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This assistance has saved lives and treated individuals infected with COVID-19, strengthened testing capacity and monitoring, enhanced case management and infection prevention and control practices, and improved the supply chain and logistics management systems. U.S. support has also protected front line workers and increased the public’s knowledge on how to better protect themselves from infection.
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, the press release added.