Pakistan gets over 3 million Moderna doses from US

The donation is part of the 80 million doses the US is sharing with the world to facilitate reasonable global access to safe and effective vaccines, which are essential to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement issued from the US embassy Islamabad said.

1/3 Today, the United States was pleased to donate three million doses of the life-saving Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to the Government of Pakistan for distribution to the Pakistani people. These vaccines were delivered in partnership with the COVAX facility and UNICEF. pic.twitter.com/2hGC0Vgv25

— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) July 29, 2021

Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that in the last three days, Pakistan administered record vaccines jabs, intending to get 70% population inoculated by the end of 2021.

The consignment had reached Islamabad on Monday, July 26, while it was officially handed over to the Pakistani government today (Thursday, July,29).

Earlier, Pakistan had received 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the US which, according to Dr Faisal, is an indication of the strong ties between Pakistan and United States.

"As President Biden has said, the United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home," the embassy's statement further said.

US Embassy Chargé d’affaires Angela P Aggeler said: “The arrival of these three million doses is in addition to the 2.5 million doses the United States donated earlier this month to the people of Pakistan."

The doses were donated in partnership with the COVAX facility and the UNICEF, a statement from the US Embassy in Islamabad said.

3/3 The United States is proud to partner with @GovtOfPak, COVAX, and @UNICEF_Pakistan to deliver these vaccines directly to the Pakistani people. Together we will fight to end the pandemic. #USPAK #EnduringPartnership @USAIDPakistan

Read more: https://t.co/RuleeA0jfd pic.twitter.com/db3YyAetII

— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) July 29, 2021

Separately, Pakistan has also received 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine since May as part of the COVAX effort.

The coronavirus situation is worsening in Pakistan with each passing day as the country on Wednesday reported over 4,400 new COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day as the virus keeps spreading across the country, official data showed.

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 4,497 cases of coronavirus were reported while 76 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 23,209.

The total number of confirmed cases reached 1,020,324.

As many as 937,354 patients have recovered from the disease with 3,084 critical cases.