ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The US COVID-19 vaccine donations to Pakistan will surpass 77 million doses following an agreement to ship 16 million pediatric doses from the United States to Pakistan in partnership with COVAX.
The new donation was announced at the conclusion of the first US-Pakistan Health Dialogue in Washington D.C, said a statement issued on Wednesday by the US Embassy in Islamabad.
An additional $20 million in USAID funding is also planned to support vaccination efforts in Pakistan.
Since the start of the pandemic, the US government has provided nearly $70.4 million in direct support and $13.8 million in in-kind support to assist the Pakistani people in the fight against COVID-19.
The United States is the single largest donor of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan.
In addition to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the United States recently donated four mobile testing laboratories through USAID to Pakistan’s National Institute of Health worth a total of $4.6 million. These labs will strengthen Pakistan’s ability to diagnose COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, especially in remote and underserved areas.
Previously, the United States provided Pakistan with more than 1.2 million N95 masks, 96,000 surgical masks, 52,000 protective goggles, one million COVID-19 rapid diagnostic tests, 1,200 pulse oximeters, and 200 ventilators for 64 Pakistani hospitals – all of which has helped save lives and protect people across Pakistan.
The US government also trained over 30,000 women health workers across Pakistan on home-based care for COVID-19 patients and established a national network of disease surveillance and response units and teams – providing an infrastructure to combat the current pandemic and building resiliency for the future.
Emphasizing the strong bilateral health cooperation and thanking Pakistan for their continued partnership in the fight against COVID-19, the US Ambassador Donald Blome said, “Throughout our 75-year relationship we have strengthened our cooperation and partnership, and that is most evident in our joint efforts to combat and end the transmission of COVID-19 in Pakistan. We will continue to work side-by-side to tackle this once in a lifetime public health challenge.”
The close coordination between the United States and Pakistani authorities, doctors, nurses, and logistics professionals continues to produce tangible, life-saving results. Every additional vaccine administered boosts our ability to defeat future COVID-19 waves.
The US Embassy said that the United States will continue to engage in Pakistan with a whole-of-government-approach to help strengthen Pakistan’s capacity and infrastructure to combat COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.
