The United States congratulates Bosnia and Herzegovina on its $13-million investment in the health of BiH citizens by purchasing COVID-19 vaccines, the first doses of which arrived today in Sarajevo.
The shipment was made possible through the COVAX Facility, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and the BiH government’s investment to finance the purchase of the vaccines. The initial shipment includes 23,400 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which arrived this morning. A shipment of 26,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is scheduled to arrive this evening.
“I’m pleased for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that the BiH government funded COVID-19 vaccines have arrived and can help stop the spread of the virus, which we’ve seen accelerating in recent weeks,” said U.S. Ambassador Eric Nelson. “All countries need access to COVID-19 vaccines to stop the pandemic and we urge BiH Minister of Civil Affairs Ankica Gudeljević and the Council of Ministers to continue their work to bring and distribute vaccines here promptly.”
Globally, the United States has pledged an initial $2 billion—out of a total planned $4 billion— to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support COVAX, making the U.S. the single largest contributor to global COVID-19 vaccine access.
The U.S. contributions to COVAX, through 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. This support is critical to controlling the pandemic, slowing the emergence of new variants, and helping to restart the global economy.
