US donates 3.5m more Pfizer vaccines to Bangladesh

The United States (US) has donated 3.5 million more doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh to support the country's new drive to inoculate youth ages 12 and up.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller hoped this assistance will enable young people, especially students, to protect themselves from COVID-19 and safely resume their studies and social lives more fully, said a US embassy press release.  

"We have also provided specialized training to hundreds of Bangladeshi health workers to help them safely administer these Pfizer vaccines among children ages 12 and up," the US envoy added. 

With the latest consignment, now the American people have donated 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh and the total US government COVID-19 assistance to Bangladesh exceeds $121 million, according to the release. 

Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use among children ages 12 to 17 years old. 

This delivery of vaccines 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, said the US mission. 

The US 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, it added. 

Source: BSS