Maldives has received a donation of Pfizer vaccine doses from the government of the United States of America, to assist the government's fight against Covid-19.
The U.S government's donation of 128,700 doses of the COVAX facility vaccine doses arrived in the Maldives on Monday.
US Ambassador to Maldives Alaina Teplitz handed over the donation to Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem during a ceremony held at the Velana International Airport (VIA).
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Naseem applauded the American government's initiative to donate vaccines under the country's Global Covid-19 Vaccine Sharing strategy and expressed gratitude for including Maldives among the first countries to receive vaccine doses under this initiative.
He also offered thanks for being one of the most generous contributors in the country's Covid-19 response efforts, noting that this assistance is significant to the Maldivian government.
While the Health Protection Agency (HPA) approved the administration of Pfizer vaccine doses to children between the ages of 12 and 17, the health minister said that the US donation will help in the campaign to be carried out with education ministry.
Also speaking at the ceremony, U.S Ambassador to the Maldives, Alaina Teplitz expressed US' commitment to continue efforts to strengthen and fortify bonds between the two countries.
So far in the Covid-19 response efforts, Maldives has received aid totaling USD 5.4 million from the U.S. government. This includes USD two million grant aid as well as physical donations of essentials including Personal Protective Equipments, PCR testing machines, ventilators as well as other essential medical supplies. Further, America has also donated through multilateral agencies such as IAEA and UNICEF
The donation handover ceremony was joined by the UN Resident Coordinator Catherine Haswell, UNICEF Country Representative Marjan Montazemi, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Dr. Nazneen Anwar as well as senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defense and National Security and embassy officials.
