The US Government has donated 128,700 doses of Pfizer vaccine to the Maldives through the COVAX facility.
On behalf of the Government of the Maldives, Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem received the vaccines at a ceremony held at Velana International Airport (VIA) on August 9. Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Naseem commended the leadership of the US government on global vaccination efforts and for including the Maldives among the first countries to receive COVID-19 vaccines from the US. Minister Naseem also thanked the US for the continuous and unwavering support extended to the Maldives since the beginning of the pandemic and noted that such generosity and friendship have increased the capacity of the Maldives to combat the spread of the virus more effectively. He further noted that with the donation of Pfizer vaccines, the government can now start vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 18 for the very first time.
The ceremony held to hand over the vaccines was attended by US Ambassador to the Maldives Alaina Teplitz, UN Resident Coordinator Catherine Haswell, UNICEF Country Representative Marjan Montazemi and WHO Representative Dr. Nazneen Anwar, along with senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defence and the Embassy of the US in Colombo.
The US government has so far contributed over USD 5.4 million to the Maldives’ COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, including a grant aid of USD 2 million, multiple donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), PCR machines, ventilators, and related equipment, as well as donations through several multilateral agencies such as IAEA and UNICEF.