March 29, 2024, 5:14 am


Diplomatic correspondent

Published:
2021-12-13 06:47:36 BdST

Norway, Sweden, Switzerland donate 1.2m AZ jabs to Bangladesh


Norway, Sweden, Switzerland have donated over 1.2 million AstraZeneca (AZ) Covid vaccines to Bangladesh under the global COVAX facility.

The Ambassadors of the three countries here symbolically handed over the donations to the Bangladesh government at a ceremony held at the Padma State Guest House in the capital on Sunday. 

Health Services Division Secretary Lokman Hossian Miah received the vaccines while Secretary (West) of the foreign ministry and other senior government officials were also present at the event.

The delivery contains 5,35,200 doses donated by Sweden, 4,46,000 by Switzerland, and 2,37,600 by Norway to the COVAX facility. 

In their joint statement, the Ambassadors of Sweden, Switzerland and Norway highlighted the importance of an effective multilateral response to the global pandemic and reiterated their countries’ commitment to rapid and equal global access to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines.

Living up to their global engagement, the three countries have each pledged financial support to the multilateral “Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator” (ACT-A) initiative and have donated vaccines to its COVAX facility.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, they have also bilaterally contributed to various frontline initiatives across Bangladesh, reaching the most vulnerable and remote communities.

The Ambassadors also thanked UNICEF for organizing the shipment and handover of the vaccines to the Bangladesh government. 

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