The United States is sending another 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to hard-hit Bangladesh, a White House official told AFP on Thursday, after the Biden administration announced an increase in global donations.
The latest shipments were 2,508,480 doses of Pfizer, which means the total dose of vaccine from the US to the country has reached more than nine million.
Citing the Channel News Asia page, Friday (9/24/2021), the packaging process is ongoing and the first shipment, made through the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX program.
“We are proud to be able to provide this safe and effective vaccine to the people of Bangladesh,” the official said, adding that there was “no ties” to the donation.
“We are dispensing these doses not to secure aid or extract concessions,” the official said.
Vaccinations in Bangladesh
According to the AFP database, only 9.3 percent of Bangladesh’s population has been fully vaccinated as of this week.
The impoverished nation of about 170 million people, which neighbors India, has struggled to contain the pandemic, imposing some of the world’s longest lockdowns.
Children only returned to school two weeks ago after being suspended for 18 months – an example of the education gap that the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF recently warned, is exacerbating injustices for millions of children across South Asia.
US Accused of Hoarding Vaccines
Like other wealthy nations, the United States has been accused of stockpiling vaccines and prioritizing booster shots over helping countries in the world that have not received any vaccinations at all.
On Wednesday, the United States authorized the third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine for the elderly and at-risk populations.
However, sekilas tentang togel singapur President Joe Biden has declared the United States to be the world’s vaccine “weapon” in the fight against COVID-19 and the total US contribution is more than the rest of the world combined.
Biden told a summit of world COVID-19 leaders on Wednesday that the United States contributed 500 million extra doses of the “historic” vaccine, bringing the total US commitments worldwide to 1.1 billion.