US donates COVID-19 vaccine to Tajikistan

The U.S. government provided Tajikistan with 1.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, according to the US Embassy in Dushanbe.

The vaccine doses represent humanitarian assistance from the United States for the people of Tajikistan and arrived on July 26.  This donation builds upon the $9 million in assistance the United States has provided to Tajikistan to combat COVID-19 since March 2020.

The vaccines are delivered to Tajikistan through the COVAX facility, which in March 2021 provided 192,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Tajikistan through funds also provided partially by the U.S. government. COVAX is the global facility ensuring people around the world get access to the COVID-19 vaccine.  The United States has already given $3.5 billion in assistance to COVAX in order to supply the world with vaccines, making the United States the largest contributor worldwide to defeating this virus.

U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan John Mark Pommersheim underscored, “This donation of 1.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine will save lives.  My family and I also received the Moderna vaccine, and I encourage everyone who is able to get vaccinated to do so. Vaccination not only protects your own health, but can also save the lives of others.  We will continue to assist the people of Tajikistan to defeat this virus, and we will get through this crisis together!”

As U.S. President Biden has said, the United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that they have demonstrated at home, and the United States is contributing 500 million vaccine doses to countries around the world.  Equitable access to safe and effective vaccines is essential to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, saving lives, and rebuilding the global economy.

The Moderna COVID‑19 vaccine is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna, the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).  It is authorized for use in people aged 12 years and older in some jurisdictions and for people 18 years and older in other jurisdictions to provide protection against COVID-19 which is caused by infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  It is designed to be administered as two 0.5 mL doses given by intramuscular injection at an interval of 29 days apart.