US donates another 3.5m Pfizer vaccine doses to Bangladesh

The United States has donated another 3.5 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh, taking the tally to 15 million shots so far.

The US-delivered vaccines will enable the government to roll out vaccinations for young people aged between 12 to 17 years old, the US Embassy in Dhaka said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The United States is pleased to donate another 3.5 million Pfizer vaccines to Bangladesh. We have also provided specialised training to hundreds of Bangladeshi health workers to help them safely administer these,” said US Ambassador Earl Robert Miller.

“Pfizer vaccines among children ages 12 and up. We hope this enables young people, especially students, to protect themselves from COVID-19 and safely resume their studies and social lives more fully.”

Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration or FDA authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use among young people of the age bracket.

The United States will continue to work closely with Bangladesh to support the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign and strengthen the government’s response to the pandemic, the statement added.

The latest shipment is part of the broader commitment by the US to lead the global COVID-19 response by providing one billion doses of Pfizer vaccine around the world - free of charge - through 2022.

The country 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.