Laos to get 1.7 mn doses of Covid-19 vaccine from US

A total of 1.7 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine provided by the United States are scheduled to arrive in Vientiane this month, according to a source at the Ministry of Health familiar with the issue.

Health authorities said people most likely to develop severe symptoms from Covid-19 infections, including those over the age of 60 and people with underlying health conditions, will have access to the Pfizer vaccine.
A ceremony to hand over the shipment is planned at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane. These vaccines will be the latest aid provided by the US, Laos’ major provider of Covid-19 vaccines.
The US is providing the vaccines to Laos via the World Health Organization (WHO)-backed COVAX facility, and the Pfizer/BioNTech jab has been approved by the global health body for people aged 12 and up. 
The US and Laos, together with COVAX partners such as the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region and UNICEF Laos, are working to get these vaccines to the country as soon as possible. 
In July, Laos received more than one million doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine that were donated by the US government.

The 1,008,000 doses were donated through the COVAX facility, a partnership co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and WHO, with UNICEF as the key delivery partner.
People should follow official Lao media for further updates and information.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
 (Latest Update December 10, 2021)