UK provides 321,760 doses of Covid vaccine

The Lao PDR has received 321,760 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from the United Kingdom, which arrived last month after being shipped through Thailand.
The vaccine was handed over to Minister of Health, Dr Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, by the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the British Embassy to Laos, Mr Cashel Gleeson, in the presence of other officials from the Ministry of Health and the British Embassy.

“The government of the Lao PDR welcomes this new shipment of vaccine and would like to thank the UK government for their highly valuable contribution, which will support the country greatly as we are now rolling out the third round of vaccinations,” Dr Bounfeng said.
Mr Gleeson said “This donation follows our earlier donation in August 2021 of 415,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, bringing our total bilateral vaccine donation to 736,700 doses.”
“We know that this vaccine has arrived at an important time for the ministry, as they now begin to start supplying booster shots to fully vaccinated individuals.”
“Dr Bounfeng, Ministry of Health officials and all those across government involved in the vaccine rollout across Laos have done a brilliant job, in what are very challenging times for everyone across the world.”
The delivery will be a boost to the overall immunisation of the Lao population, and will strengthen Laos’ capacity to protect itself against Covid as well as support the opening-up strategy which came into effect on January 1 when the first foreign tourists were allowed to enter the country.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update January 6, 2022)