US ramps up donations of COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines to Uzbekistan

TASHKENT -- The US government Monday (December 6) delivered an additional 301,860 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Uzbekistan to fight COVID-19, the US Embassy in Uzbekistan said in a statement.

"Safe and effective vaccines are our best tools to end the pandemic, and the United States is committed to purchasing and donating one billion doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, bringing the total doses shared by the United States to more than 1.1 billion," said US Deputy Chief of Mission Paul Poletes while welcoming the vaccine arrival Monday.

This donation builds on the more than 5.3 million doses of US-manufactured vaccines the United States has delivered to Uzbekistan in several shipments since July.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) programme has also provided about 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Uzbekistan in multiple deliveries, partially funded by the United States.

Furthermore, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) recently allocated $2.5 million in urgent COVID-19 assistance for Uzbekistan.

More than $16 million to help Uzbekistan

The latest assistance means the US government, through USAID and the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), has provided more than $16 million to address COVID-19 in Uzbekistan.

The United States, the largest donor to COVAX, has delivered more than 250 million COVID-19 vaccines around the world, with hundreds of millions more on their way.

"More and more people are getting fully vaccinated in Uzbekistan. But the fight is far from over -- the virus continues to rage in this country and new variants pose a constant global threat," Mikaela Meredith, USAID mission director to Uzbekistan, said in an earlier statement on November 12.

"Ending the pandemic is vital to keeping everyone safe, saving lives, and rebuilding global economies," said Meredith.