Uganda receives 1.6 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine

Uganda has received a consignment of  more than 1.6 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines thanks to a donation by the United States government.

This is the second consignment of COVID-19 vaccines that the Biden administration has sent to Uganda. The first arrived on September 6, comprising 647,080 doses of Moderna vaccines, bringing the total donation from the United States to 2,321,350 COVID-19 vaccine doses.

This tranche of 1,674,270 vaccines is part of the 500 million Pfizer doses the United States provided to deliver to 92 countries worldwide, including Uganda, to fulfil President Joe Biden’s commitment to provide safe and effective vaccines around the world and supercharge the global fight against the pandemic.

“We share these vaccines to save lives as part of America’s leadership in bringing the COVID-19 pandemic to an end,” said U.S. Ambassador Natalie E. Brown. “To save lives and stop the threat of new variants, we must vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.”

The Ugandan government had earlier announced that the Pfizer vaccine will be used to inoculate school-going children as one of the measures to prepare them for the reopening of schools. The educational institutions have been largely closed since last year.

Since the pandemic began, the United States has provided approximately USD 111 million (nearly 400 billion Shillings) to Uganda in direct assistance specifically to respond to COVID-19. In support of Uganda’s national vaccine rollout, the United States has provided technical and financial support in data management, risk communication, health worker training, strengthening the supply chain and increasing cold storage capacity enabling vaccine uptake across Uganda.

“Please educate yourself and your loved ones about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines and the protection they provide,” Ambassador Brown said. “Making an educated decision to get the COVID-19 vaccine is a critical step toward protecting your health and that of your family and community because as we know, none of us is safe until we are all safe.”

The United States is donating vaccines to the world and is the leading financial donor to COVAX.  The U.S. government contributed USD 2 billion to Gavi in March, which supported procurement and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX. In July, the U.S. provided an additional $2 billion to Gavi that will help fill the gap in COVAX’s vaccine supply.