US hands over vaccine donation

US hands over vaccine donation

The United States has officially handed over its Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine donation to the government, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said yesterday.

On hand at Government House to receive the donation was Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, with Michael Heath, charge d'affaires at the US embassy, representing Washington at the ceremony. In total, 1,503,450 doses of Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNtech arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport on Friday.

Gen Prayut said the donation reflects the true friendship between the two nations, which has been going strong for 188 years. In addition, he said, it reflected both countries' determination to quickly end the pandemic, as vaccines are an essential tool in the fight against the virus.

Gen Prayut also thanked Thai-born US senator Tammy Duckworth and other related agencies for helping to arrange the donation of a further one million doses for Thailand.

The remarks came after the US embassy confirmed that the United States will provide an additional one million doses on top of the 1.5 million doses which arrived on Friday, bringing its total donation to 2.5 million doses. Gen Prayut pledged to prudently manage the donated vaccine to ensure optimal benefits for the people.

The embassy made it clear in its statement released online on Friday that the donated vaccines did not come with strings attached.

Separately, the United Kingdom's donation of 415,040 AstraZeneca doses is due to arrive in Thailand today.

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