As part of support to combat the ongoing pandemic, the Norway, Sweden and Switzerland on Sunday donated over 1.2 million AstraZeneca COVID vaccines to Bangladesh.

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

Senior Secretary of the Health Services Division, Lokman Hossian Miah, received the vaccines on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh. The Secretary (East) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other senior government officials were also present at the event.

Earlier, the delivery of over 1.2 million AstraZeneca COVID vaccines donated by Switzerland, Sweden and Norway to the global COVAX facility arrived in Bangladesh on December 9, said a joint press release of the three embassies.

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 the 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.

During the event, the Ambassadors have welcomed the decision of COVAX to allocate and deliver over 1.2 million AstraZeneca COVID vaccines to Bangladesh.

The delivery contains 535’200 doses donated by Sweden, 446’000 by Switzerland, and 237’600 by Norway to the COVAX facility.

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

Secretary (East) of the Foreign Ministry appreciated the kind gesture and efforts of the governments to stand beside Bangladesh during this pandemic.

He also called upon the European countries on the Rohingya seeking their more meaningful role in their repatriation to their homeland. 

Senior Secretary (Health) expressed gratitude to the European development partners for extending the much-needed support to Bangladesh in such a time when the Government of Bangladesh was taking due efforts to inoculate its total population.