1 Million Doses of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Donated from the US Arrived in Malaysia

When some countries have an excess of vaccines and others are in need of vaccines to inoculate their population, there’s only one way to level the disparity. 

After all, as the wise adage goes, sharing is caring. 

Malaysia has received one million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from the US on 5 July. 

Here’s all that you need to know. 

1 Million Doses of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Donated from the US Arrived in Malaysia

The doses were transported by the Raya Airways aircraft TH384, which landed at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor.

According to National Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia wishes to continue working with the US, along with other countries, to gain access to more vaccines for its population. 

US Ambassador to Malaysia Brian McFeeters stated that the US is dedicated to working with Malaysia to provide support to its National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme. 

The donated vaccine doses come from a batch of 80 million US-made vaccines that the US promised to share globally with countries that are in need of more vaccines. 

President Biden had said that these vaccines would be shared globally “with no strings attached”, making a subtle reference to Russia and China, which have been accused by the US of exploiting vaccines as foreign policy leverage. 

He had also mentioned that the donation would be of benefit to Americans by eliminating threats of the virus from overseas before the rise of even more detrimental variants. 

This was amid worries about the differences in the rates of vaccination between advanced and developing countries. 

Biden had earlier been met with international criticism for hoarding initial supplies of vaccines, which allowed the US to get a headstart in their vaccination rates as compared to other nations. 

Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein expressed Malaysia’s gratitude to the US for their donation of one million vaccine doses on Sunday (4 July). 

“On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I would like to once again express my sincere gratitude to my counterpart, Antony Blinken (US Secretary of State) and the US Government for the generous contribution of its Covid-19 vaccines,” said Datuk Seri Hishammuddin in a statement.

It is projected that Malaysia will receive a total of 12 million doses of different COVID-19 vaccines in July. 

6.38 million individuals have received their first dose of the vaccine while 2.6 million have been fully inoculated.

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