Australia has donated 900,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to Laos through the COVAX Facility in a new shipment that arrived in Vientiane on Sunday.
The vaccines will be used to vaccinate children aged 12 to 17 with the goal of reopening schools safely, in line with the Lao government’s National Deployment and Vaccination Plan.
The Pfizer vaccine will also be administered to elderly people and those with underlying health conditions.
The vaccines were donated by the Australian government through the COVAX facility, arriving at Wattay International Airport yesterday.
The vaccines were handed over by Mr. Dan Heldon, Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy to Laos, in the presence of Dr. Viengkhan Pixay, Deputy Director of Mother and Child Health Centre, and Dr. Kongxay Phouphenghack, Head of the National Immunization Program.
This donation, together with 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines provided to Laos last month, makes up a total of one million doses of Covid-19 vaccines donated to Laos by Australia.
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.
