The United States congratulates Uzbekistan on the successful arrival of 660,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines today. This shipment was made possible through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.  The United States recently completed an initial $2 billion obligation—out of a total planned $4 billion— to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, making the U.S. the single largest donor to COVAX.

“Today, the international community is delivering 660,000 doses of vaccine to the Government of Uzbekistan. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated that no nation can act alone against a global pandemic.  Ending a pandemic requires close international cooperation. Yet while the virus threatens all humanity, our challenge is to ensure that the remedy is equally available to all countries, not just the most affluent.  We can’t be safe until the whole world is vaccinated,” U.S. Ambassador Rosenblum said at the handover event.

U.S. contributions to COVAX, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will support the purchase and delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations in 92 low- and middle-income countries, including in Uzbekistan. This support is critical to controlling the pandemic, slowing the emergence of new variants, and helping to restart the global economy. The U.S is committed to collaborating with partners and governments to support global COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

The United States has worked closely with Uzbekistan throughout the duration of the pandemic to strengthen the response to COVID-19. The U.S. provided personal protective equipment (PPE), then testing equipment and supplies needed to conduct PCR tests, and donated 200
ventilators to help treat seriously-ill COVID patients. In total, U.S. direct, COVID-related assistance to Uzbekistan exceeds $9 million. As Ambassador Rosenblum noted at the handover, “The ultimate goal of all this assistance is to save lives here in Uzbekistan.”