Nearly 800,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka this week to continue the fight against COVID-19, a gift from the American people, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo said. 

These safe and effective vaccines, donated by the United States and delivered via COVAX, will protect lives and increase the COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Sri Lanka, the statement said.

“I commend Sri Lanka’s commitment to public health.  Increasing vaccination coverage is a critical step toward ending the pandemic,” said Alaina Teplitz, the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives.  

“This donation will help Sri Lanka provide safe and effective vaccines, especially to young people with health issues. It represents our continued investment in Sri Lanka’s future and comes at no cost to the Sri Lankan people.”

This delivery brings the total number of vaccines donated by the United States to Sri Lanka to nearly 2.4 million.  Since the pandemic began, the United States has partnered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health to provide over $17.9 million in emergency supplies and critical services.  

This assistance has reached millions of people in all 25 districts and nine provinces of Sri Lanka to control the spread of COVID-19, address the urgent health needs of the Sri Lankan people, and mitigate the pandemic’s negative economic impacts, the release added.

At the U.N. General Assembly in September, U.S. President Joseph R. Biden announced that the United States will donate 1.1 billion Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to countries in need, free of charge.  As the global leader in public health assistance, the United States has already delivered more than 160 million COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, donating more vaccines than all other countries combined. 

The United States is also the largest donor to the global vaccine initiative, COVAX, and is proud to work with countries around the world to end this pandemic and build back a better world.

The United States is leading the global COVID-19 response not only to save lives and restart the global economy, but because it is the right thing to do. We are committed to our partnership with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and others to end this pandemic.

Proud to announce the donation of nearly 800,000 Pfizer BioNTech vaccines to #lka today through #COVAX! These vaccines are part the United States' ongoing commitment to the health, safety & prosperity of the Sri Lankan people – and people around the world.https://t.co/yM8g8XTcXq pic.twitter.com/wXfYHRDtd9

— Ambassador Teplitz (@USAmbSLM) October 1, 2021