Tanzania accepted delivery of over 1.6 million Pfizer BioNTech vaccines donated by the government of the United States through the global COVAX vaccine sharing initiative. Dar es Salaam Regional Medical Officer Dr. Rashid Mfaume officially received the donation from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Health Office Director Ananthy Thambinayagam during a ceremony at Julius Nyerere International Airport.
As part of its efforts to end the pandemic globally, the U.S. government has so far donated over 4.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Tanzania. This total includes more than 1 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine that were shipped in July 2021 and over 3.5 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine that were to shipped in three installments between November 2021 and January 2022. These donations are indicative of the U.S. government’s strong partnership and commitment to the Tanzanian people and our shared interest in defeating COVID-19 together.
America’s support for the global fight against COVID-19 includes:
-Donating 365 million vaccine doses to other countries.
-Purchasing 1 billion vaccine doses to donate to nearly 100 developing countries.
-Contributing $4 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in support of COVAX, the global initiative to equitably distribute safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
-Delivering essential medicines, supplies and therapeutics, as well as other assistance to help countries rebuild economies, overcome food shortages, and strengthen health security.
U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged that the United States will be the world’s arsenal of vaccines in the shared fight against COVID-19. “We will continue to do all we can to build a world that is safer and more secure against the threat of infectious disease,” Biden said earlier this year.
