US Donates 3 Million Vaccine Doses To Uzbekistan

The United States donated three million doses of coronavirus vaccines to Uzbekistan Friday, its ambassador said, as Washington seeks to boost its relationships with the Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan

Tashkent, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Jul, 2021 ) :The United States donated three million doses of coronavirus vaccines to Uzbekistan Friday, its ambassador said, as Washington seeks to boost its relationships with the Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan.

US Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum wrote on Twitter that embassy staff had greeted a plane carrying three million doses of the Moderna vaccine at Uzbekistan's main airport in the capital Tashkent early on Friday morning.

"A gift from the American people to the people of Uzbekistan through COVAX. We can't beat this virus until all of us are vaccinated!" Washington is looking to increase its cooperation with Central Asia's 'stans' as it completes a pullout from Afghanistan, where the Taliban has overrun government forces to claim control of key border crossings in recent weeks.

Tajikistan, another Central Asian country bordering Afghanistan received 1.5 million Moderna doses through the international vaccine distribution system known as Covax at the beginning of the week.

Officials in the impoverished ex-Soviet republic of 9.5 million have declared that they are ready to accept refugees from their war-torn neighbour although foreign minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin said this week it was too early to make commitments on numbers.

Tajikistan's authoritarian government made vaccinations for adults mandatory earlier this month.

Uzbekistan, which has a population of 34 million people, is considering legislation that will tie vaccination to employment rights.

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