On Monday November 15, the United States delivered 117,000 out of 198,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Tajikistan for the continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the COVAX facility.

The remaining 81,900 doses will arrive this week, says the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe.  This latest donation adds to the 325,260 Pfizer doses delivered in September, and 1.5 million Moderna doses delivered in July 2021.  In total, the U.S. government has donated more than two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Tajikistan.

Yesterday’s Pfizer vaccine delivery to Tajikistan is part of the U.S. government’s commitment to donate 1.1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to the countries most in need, safely, equitably, and with no strings attached.  Worldwide, the United States has already delivered more than 200 million COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, with more on the way.  The United States is the largest donor to the COVAX facility, which is a pillar of global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

USAID/Tajikistan’s Mission Director, Peter Riley, stressed, “No one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is. And vaccines are an essential and vital component to get there.”

These vaccine doses are part of a coordinated assistance effort to strengthen Tajikistan’s health care system, including the procurement of urgent supplies to support infection-prevention and control; improvement of COVID-19 surveillance, response, and case management; the development and enhancement of public health outreach, risk communication and community engagement; and support for the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Over the past 60 years, USAID has reportedly saved millions of lives from diseases such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, malaria, and now COVID-19.  USAID continues supporting Tajikistan to distribute the COVID-19 vaccines safely and effectively and encourages all eligible populations to get vaccinated.