Africa-Press – Mauritius. Mauritius received a donation of some 76,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines from the United States of America (U. S. ), through the COVAX Facility.
The consignment arrived at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport this morning and was received by the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, and the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal.
The U. S. Embassy Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr Thomas Kohl, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mrs Christine Umutoni, and other personalities were also present on this occasion.
In a statement, Minister Ganoo commended the U. S. Government for this donation of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, which is the first of this type received by Mauritius.
He highlighted that the American Government, through this donation, is honouring its commitment of distributing some 500 million doses of vaccine to countries around the world to contribute in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister Ganoo underscored that, as the situation is evolving, Government has to constantly adapt and introduce new measures to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
He also urged those who have not yet been inoculated to collaborate with Government’s efforts by doing so at the earliest, as borders will soon reopen.
For his part, Health Minister Jagutpal recalled that more than 62% of the local population aged over 18 years old has already been vaccinated. The U. S.
donation, he observed, will enable Government to inoculated some 36,000 adolescents and all necessary logistics have been put in place for this exercise.
The vaccination programme in schools will kick-off as from 28 September 2021, he pointed out. As for Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Kohl, he underlined that the U. S.
Government is proud to donate some 70,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to the people of Mauritius as part of the Biden Administration’s global efforts to fight the pandemic.
He indicated that, to date, the U. S. have donated more than 160 million doses of vaccines to some 100 countries. Vaccines, he stressed, are the best way to control the pandemic, slow new variants, and return to economic prosperity.
This donation from the U. S. will help protect young Mauritians between 12 to 17 years old, he added. Mrs Umutoni, for her part, commended the U. S. Government for this donation and for its continuous support to the COVAX Facility so as to ensure that all people around the world receive the vaccine.
She also commended the Mauritian Government for its ongoing local vaccination campaign and reminded that all sanitary and safety precautions and protocols must thoroughly be observed.
