Laos has received 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines from Australia today in accordance with a pledge to assist Laos in its fight against the virus.
The doses of vaccines arrived in Vientiane Capital today and are part of a total number of 1 million doses of vaccines pledged by Australia to Laos, according to a senior government official.
The vaccines were handed over by Mr. Dan Heldon, Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy to Laos, and received by Dr. Chanthanom Manythip, Head of the Office of the Ministry of Health.
The Australian government announced in May that Australia would provide a grant of AUD 15.2 million (US 11.85 million) for the rollout of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines in Laos.
The contribution is said will assist the Lao government in significantly increasing the proportion of citizens that are to be safely vaccinated.
Australia’s vaccine support package for Laos is in addition to the AUD 4.8 million (US 3.74 million) of development assistance for the Covid-19 response that Australia is delivering.
Australia has also made a significant contribution to the multilateral COVAX facility, which has shipped hundreds of doses of vaccines to Laos.
Today’s 100,000 doses were the first batch to arrive in Laos provided by Australia, with a further 900,000 vaccines to arrive in the coming weeks.
