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| The Covid-19 vaccine is prepared for administration at a vaccination clinic. (Photo by= Frederic J. Brown / AFP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] WASHINGTON: The United States is shipping another 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to hard-hit Bangladesh, a White House official told AFP on Thursday (Sep 23), after the Biden administration announced a ramping up of global donations, AP reported. The latest shipment - 2,508,480 Pfizer doses - brings the total of US shots to the country above nine million.
Packing was underway and first deliveries, made through the World Health Organization's Covax program, arrive Monday, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP. "We are proud to be able to deliver these safe and effective vaccines to the people of Bangladesh," said the official, adding that there were "no strings attached" to the donation. "We are sharing these doses not to secure favours or extract concessions," the official said.
According to an AFP database, only 9.3 per cent of Bangladesh's population had been fully vaccinated as of this week. The impoverished country of about 170 million people, which neighbours India, has struggled to get the pandemic under control, imposing some of the world's longest lockdowns. Some 4.7 million people worldwide have died since the outbreak began in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources.
